A new treatment for post-traumatic ankle-foot deformity

  Ankle-foot deformity secondary to trauma is usually characterized by horseshoe foot or drop foot, inability to land on the heel in the standing position, and shortening of the Achilles tendon. The subtalar joint is in neutral position, and the ankle joint cannot be dorsally extended beyond the neutral position when the knee joint is straightened.  The causes and mechanisms of injury are divided into two categories: 1. Primary injury: loss of ankle extension strength due to trauma resulting in loss of innervation, destruction or loss of calf extensor muscles, ischemic necrosis. This results in a relatively strong plantarflexion force of the ankle joint, leading to the formation of horseshoe foot.  2.Secondary injury: It occurs when the joint surface is not flat or the fracture is not in proper alignment due to poor bone and joint fracture repair, and the joint surface is not in normal position for a long time due to weight-bearing friction, wear and tear and traumatic arthritis, and the patient is forced to plantar flex the ankle joint due to pain, without preventing the contracture of the calf triceps, and foot drop occurs over time, and even joint stiffness.  3, in the treatment of calf fractures or / and soft tissue injury process neglected to prevent the calf triceps contracture; calf fascial compartment syndrome caused by extensive degeneration of calf muscles, loss of contractility, which is also the cause of the formation of horseshoe foot.  4, traumatic infection or medically necessary infection formation osteomyelitis, other burns such as burns caused by skin soft tissue necrosis, scar formation, etc., and did not take preventive measures, can also form ankle foot deformity.  If the foot has been prolapsed for a long time, the paralytic scar tissue around the manic joint is thicker, the muscle cavity is shortened and adhered, the joint gap becomes smaller, and the patient cannot perform active activities, which leads to its stiffness and makes the foot prolapse more serious.  Traumatic clubfoot is more difficult to treat, especially when open surgery is taken to treat it with great difficulty and risk. Traumatic clubfoot is more difficult to treat than other causes of clubfoot because of the poor circulation and low skin elasticity at the ankle joint, and the poor condition of the soft tissues in the calf and ankle after the injury. Extensive debridement of soft tissues will disrupt local blood circulation, resulting in skin necrosis and non-healing of the bone, and will produce extensive postoperative scar adhesions, which will affect the function of the ankle joint. Therefore, it is not suitable to use more invasive surgery. The 11izamv technique can be used to treat traumatic clubfoot with satisfactory results.  The 11izav stretching biology theory (distaction histogenesis) proves that slow stretching with a certain tension and frequency can stimulate the bones and soft tissues to have regeneration and active growth in the same way as fetal tissue growth. The Euclidean frame can correct not only skeletal deformities, but also deformities caused by soft tissue contractures.  It is a minimally invasive procedure, or even a bloodless technique, even in patients with Achilles tendon and gastrocnemius contracture, which does not necessarily require an Achilles tendon amputation. Its installation and operation are simple (the details of the operation are not detailed here). In our experience, it is possible to take a faster pulling speed in the early period (first week) and a slower pulling speed in the second or third week.  Management of the ankle joint after achieving neutral position Management of the ankle joint after achieving neutral position is very important to maintain the results and prevent recurrence. Based on our experience and other authors’ reports, the further management of the ankle after achieving neutral position should be individualized: for patients who have lost active dorsiflexion of the ankle joint, the ankle joint should be immobilized in a neutral position for 2 to 3 months with an Ichthyosis brace, and after the removal of the external brace, the patient should be allowed to gradually increase the weight-bearing, and when not weight-bearing, the ankle joint should be kept in a neutral position for 2 months with a brace. After the above treatment, the patient achieved 0. There was no recurrence of horseshoe foot deformity and no significant foot drop during walking, so no other surgery was required. The recurrence of the horseshoe foot was related to the short duration of the use of the Ichthyosis frame and the absence of the postoperative brace.