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Purpose: Ankle fractures are amongst the most common injuries treated by orthopaedics surgeons. Open reduction and internal fixation is the standard of care for unstable ankle fractures. In this study, we intend to study the functional outcome of surgically treated ankle fractures. Method: In the year 2012 to 2014, a total of 45 patients who underwent open reduction and internal fixation were assessed during follow-up using subjective as well as objective criteria.Results:The patients were followed up at 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months and were evaluated using the Olreud and Molander Ankle score as well as subjectively in terms of pain relief, gait variations, return to pre-trauma activity levels, radiographs, ankle joint function and subtalar joint function. It was noted that surgically fixed ankle fractures had good functional outcomes. A significant improvement was noted in the ankle function from 3rd month to 6th month post-operatively. There were no serious early or late complications.Early treatment without delay, anatomical reduction and fracture fixation, stringent postoperative mobilization and rehabilitation definitely improves the outcome of an ankle fracture.

BACKGROUND: Sciatica due to lumbar intervertebral disc herniation is one of the most common causes of radicular pain in an adult working population. This study aims at studying the effectiveness of conservative management of lumbar disc herniation as an alternative to surgical measures. METHODS: A prospective study of 100 patients with lumbar disc herniations who were treated conservatively were followed up at intervals of 1 month, 6 months and 1 year. Patients planned for conservative treatment were treated with pharmacological therapy, rest and physiotherapy. Those planned for epidural steroid injections were administered a single dose of steroid one level higher than the lesion in the epidural space. The collected data was analyzed by Chi square. RESULTS: Our results showed that in both genders, epidural steroid infiltration yielded better results than conservative treatment. Occupation had no discernible effect on the magnitude of disc herniation. People with sedentary lifestyle recovered better with epidural steroid infiltration as compared to the heavy physical labor group. Irrespective of disc bulge, protrusion or extrusion, the epidural steroid injection group showed significant improvement in symptoms as compared to conservative treatment. Smokers tended to show delay in the recovery as compared with the non-smoker group. The amount of disc herniation is not directly proportional to the outcome of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Epidural steroid infiltration showed significant improvement in symptoms of lumbar intervertebral disc herniation thereby avoiding disc surgery. Conservative management for atleast 4 to 6 weeks can be recommended followed by epidural steroid in those patients without improvement. Cessation of smoking should be an integral part of the treatment.