Comparison of the efficacy of surgical and non-surgical treatments in intra-articular calcaneal fracture

Calcaneal fracture accounts for 2% of all fractures and is the most common tarsal fracture. Regarding this, the present study was conducted to determine and compare the surgical and non-surgical treatments in adult patients with calcaneal fractures in terms of outcomes, patients’ satisfaction level, and complications. This clinical trial was conducted on 63 patients with intraarticular fractures of calcaneus referring to the educational centers of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Mazandaran, Iran, to assess the surgical and non-surgical methods. The patients’ satisfaction level with the treatment was estimated based on the visual analog scale. In addition, pain, function, and organ alignment were evaluated by using the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society Hind Foot Score (AOFAS). Out of the 63 patients, 26 (41.3%) and 37 (58.7%) cases were in the surgical and non-surgical groups, respectively. The mean score of AOFAS was obtained as76.35± 17.19 (out of 0-100) with the minimum and maximum values of 22 and 100, respectively. The results revealed no significant difference between two treatment groups in terms of mean AOFAS. As the findings of the present study indicated, the surgical and non-surgical methods in patients with Essex grades III and IV calcaneal fractures did not affect their satisfaction after treatment and improvement. Therefore, given the higher number of the surgical treatment complications, it is recommended to adopt the non-surgical treatments.