Result of Short Leg Cast or Short Leg Splint for Chronic Open Wound over Lateral Malleolus

Category: Ankle Introduction/Purpose: Chronic open wound(COW) over lateral malleolus(LM) is hard to manage for high recurrence rate. Characteristic bone to skin structure of LM is vulnerable to pressure or shear force causing bursitis or ulcer leading to bone exposure in some cases. In resting state, ankle is slightly plantar flexed and varus position, so the skin over LM receives tension. This unfavorable condition for vascularity and pressure endurance could be worse when patients have sensory loss, vascular impairment or paraplegia. We hypothesized short leg cast (SLC) or short leg splint (SLS) keeping ankle in neutral position relieves skin tension and reverse this unfavorable condition leading to wound healing. Methods: Between July, 2014 and November, 2018, fifteen patients with COW over LM were included. Infection was accompanied by twelve. Seven patients were diagnosed diabetic foot. Seven patients could not move their affected limb actively due to paraplegia or weakness. Firstly, Vascular evaluation and management was done for ischemic patients. For all patients, repeated debridement for necrotic and infected tissue was done at intervals of two or three days until the viable wound was present. Negative pressure wound therapy(NPWT) was added in non-viable wound cases. SLC or SLS followed these procedures till wound healing. Removable SLS was kept for the patients who could not control lower limb such as paraplegia or weakness after wound healing. Results: Wound healing was achieved in 14 cases(93.3%). It took average 51.4±40.2 days for wound healing. One patient did not succeed in wound healing resulting in below knee amputation because of infection aggravation. There was no recurrence in all wound healed patients. Conclusion: Repetitive COW over LM could be healed using SLC or SLS and the healed wound kept its state with removable SLS. It is considered that conservative treatment for Repetitive COW over LM with SLC or SLS is another favorable treatment option.