Prospective case-control study (n=107) at a Level 1 trauma center comparing weight-bearing at 2 weeks versus the traditional 6-week non-weight-bearing protocol after ORIF of unstable rotational ankle fractures (OTA/AO 44A-C), specifically excluding patients who required syndesmotic fixation.
For unstable ankle fractures fixed without syndesmotic hardware, allowing weight-bearing at 2 weeks in a CAM boot is safe and meaningfully accelerates early recovery and return to work — without increasing wound complications or hardware failure.
Reserve the 6-week non-weight-bearing protocol for cases with syndesmotic injury or other fixation concerns.
Prospective case-control study (n=107) at a Level 1 trauma center comparing weight-bearing at 2 weeks versus the traditional 6-week non-weight-bearing protocol after ORIF of unstable rotational ankle fractures (OTA/AO 44A-C), specifically excluding patients who required syndesmotic fixation.
For unstable ankle fractures fixed without syndesmotic hardware, allowing weight-bearing at 2 weeks in a CAM boot is safe and meaningfully accelerates early recovery and return to work — without increasing wound complications or hardware failure.
Reserve the 6-week non-weight-bearing protocol for cases with syndesmotic injury or other fixation concerns.