Postoperative infection after closed and open ankle fractures

Ankle fracture is one of the most common traumas, the surgical treatment of which is usually performed by residents in traumatological training. The area is prone to postoperative infections due to swelling and circulatory problems. Wound dehiscience and superficial skin infection are the most common complications of operative ankle fracture treatment (4.6%), while the incidence for deeper infection around the ankle is 1.8% (1). In high-energy fractures infection complications are much more common – in the most difficult Gustilo type IIIB/C open ankle fractures infections are seen in up to 50% of the cases (2). The most important single factor predisposing to infection around the ankle is diabetes (3). The most common cause of postoperative osteomyelitis is an infection sustained by the presence of foreign material, and 80% of all cases are caused by Staphylococcus aureus (4). Soft tissue problems are directly proportional to the energy of trauma, and as soft tissue problems predispose to infections, the traumatologists should be familiar with the common classifications of closed and open fractures and soft tissue damage (5).