Elderly patients with unstable ankle fractures could avoid surgery

Elderly patients with unstable ankle fractures could avoid surgery, according to research by a UK team led by Oxford University. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association , compared surgery to pin a broken ankle with a new plaster cast technique known as 'close casting'. Researcher Professor Keith Willett, of the Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences at the University of Oxford, and the Kadoorie Centre for Critical Care Research and Education at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: 'Older adults - those over 60 - are suffering an increasing number of ankle fractures from leading more active lifestyles and the rising prevalence of osteoporosis. However, we know that older patients have disproportionately poor outcomes, and their quality of life can suffer as they lose mobility.' Until now, two techniques have been used to treat unstable fractures. People either received open surgery to set and then fix the bones using plates and screws, or they received a traditional plaster cast. Professor Willett said: 'Each technique has drawbacks. Traditional plaster casts are associated with misaligned bones, poor healing and plaster sores.