Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2017;6(1):9-14.
doi: 10.1007/s13670-017-0196-y. Epub 2017 Feb 3.

Management of Osteoporotic and Neuropathic Ankle Fractures in the Elderly

Affiliations
Review

Management of Osteoporotic and Neuropathic Ankle Fractures in the Elderly

P Hoogervorst et al. Curr Geriatr Rep. 2017.

Abstract

Purpose of review: Treatment of osteoporotic and neuropathic ankle fractures in the elderly is challenging. The purpose of this paper is to review recent publications on this topic and to identify the optimal treatment for these fractures.

Recent findings: Treatment consists of a variety of conservative or operative options all with advantages and disadvantages as described in this review. Little research has been published that specifically focuses on elderly patients with ankle fractures. Operative treatment has a high complication rate. Multiple comorbidities are predictors for complications.

Summary: An optimal treatment could not be distilled but based on the available literature, a general treatment algorithm is proposed. Since the elderly typically are accompanied by multiple comorbidities as well as impaired mobility, the physician should focus not only on treating the fractured ankle but also on the patient as a whole. Further research on this specific topic is needed.

Keywords: Ankle fracture; Elderly; Multidisciplinary; Neuropathy; Osteoporosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

Paul Hoogervorst, Christiaan van Bergen, and Michel van der Bekerom declare no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Algorithm decision-making in osteoporotic and neuropathic ankle fractures in the elderly

References

    1. Kannus P, Palvanen M, Niemi S, Parkkari J, Järvinen M. Stabilizing incidence of low-trauma ankle fractures in elderly people Finnish statistics in 1970-2006 and prediction for the future. Bone. 2008;43(2):340–342. doi: 10.1016/j.bone.2008.04.015. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Court-Brown CM, McBirnie J, Wilson G. Adult ankle fractures—an increasing problem? Acta Orthop Scand. 1998;69:43–47. doi: 10.3109/17453679809002355. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Compston JE, Watts NB, Chapurlat R, Cooper C, Boonen S, Greenspan S, Pfeilschifter J, Silverman S, Dıez-Perez A, Lindsay R, Saag KG, Netelenbos JC, Gehlbach S, Hooven FH, Flahive J, Adachi JD, Rossini M, Lacroix AZ, Roux C, Sambrook PN, Siris ES, Investigators G. Obesity is not protective against fracture in postmenopausal women: GLOW. Am J Med. 2011;124(11):1043–1050. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2011.06.013. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. King CM, Hamilton GA, Cobb M, Carpenter D, Ford LA. Association between ankle fracture and obesity. J Foot Ankle Surg. 2012;51(5):543–547. doi: 10.1053/j.jfas.2012.05.016. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lacombe J, Cairns BJ, Green J, Reeves GK, Beral V, Armstrong ME. Million women study collaborators. The effects of age, adiposity, and physical activity on the risk of 7 site-specific fractures in postmenopausal women. J Bone Miner Res. 2016;7 doi:10.1002/jbmr.2826. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources