Clinical outcome of open ankle fractures in patients above 70 years of age

Table 1 Description of clinical features of open ankle fractures in patients > 70 years old

Clinical feature	Number of patients, n (%)
1 Mechanism of injury
Road traffic accident	4 (11)
Falls	33 (89)
2 Classification of ankle injuries[23]
Unimalleolar	4 (11)
Bimalleolar	29 (78)
Trimalleolar	4 (11)
3 Site of open wound
Medial	33 (89)
Lateral	1 (3)
Anterior	1 (5)
Medial + lateral + anterior	1 (3)
4 Gustilo-Anderson classification[24]
Type I	8 (22)
Type II	24 (65)
Type III	5 (13)
5 Joint dislocation at initial assessment
Yes	32 (86)
No	5 (13)

Table 2 Male vs female characteristics, n (%)

Gender	Number of patients (n = 37)	Open fracture classification	Number of operations	Complications
Male	7 (19)	Type I = 3; Type II = 3; Type III = 1	Range - 1 to 7; Median - 2	Superficial SSI - 2; Deep SSI - 3
Female	30 (81)	Type I = 21; Type II = 5; Type III = 4	Range - 1 to 9; Median - 2	Superficial SSI - 5; Deep SSI - 6

SSI: Surgical site infections.

Table 3 Type of wounds and joint congruency vs type of closure at initial surgical intervention

Type of wound	Total No. of patients (%)	Primary closure (%)	Secondary (%)	Closure
Gustilo-Anderson classification Type I	8 (22)	7 (87)	1 (13)
Gustilo-Anderson classification Type II	24 (65)	13 (54)	11 (46)
Gustilo-Anderson classification Type III	5 (13)	1 (20)	4 (80)
Dislocated joint	32 (86)	20 (62)	12 (37)
Congruent joint	5 (13)	1 (20)	4 (80)
Medial wound	33 (89)	19 (57)	14 (42)
Lateral wound	1 (3)	1 (100)	0
Anterior wound	2 (5)	0	2 (100)
Medial + lateral + anterior wound	1 (3)	1 (100)	0

Table 4 Predictors of poor outcome in patients with open ankle fractures > 70 years old

No.	Predictors	Number of patients (%)	P value
1	Diabetes mellitus	9 (24)	0.041
2	Anticoagulants/Antiplatelets intake: Warfarin/Apixaban; Aspirin/Clopidogrel; Dual antiplatelet therapy	20 (54); 9 (45); 9 (45); 2 (10)
3	Cardiac history (IHD, AF)	21 (57)	0.045
4	Chronic kidney disease	12 (32)
5	Cancer history	8 (22)	0.008
6	History of thromboembolic disease	3 (8)	0.001
7	Steroids intake	9 (24)	0.75

IHD: Ischemic heart disease; AF: Atrial fibrillation.

Table 5 Male vs Female predictors of poor outcome (%)

Gender	Diabetes mellitus	Anticoagulants/Antiplatelets intake	Cardiac history	Chronic kidney disease	Cancer history	History of thromboembolic disease	Steroids intake
Male	2 (28)	3 (43)	3 (43)	1 (14)	4 (57)	0	0
Female	7 (23)	17 (57)	18 (60)	11 (37)	4 (13)	3 (10)	9 (30)