{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,26]],"date-time":"2026-08-26T17:22:31Z","timestamp":1787764951575,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":25,"publisher":"Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)","issue":"1","content-domain":{"domain":["lww.com","ovid.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["J West Afr Coll Surg"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Ankle equinus deformity is a common complication of prolonged external fixator use in tibia fractures with an incidence of 15%\u201316%. It affects gait and may lead to foot, leg, and back problems. Treatment of equinus deformity increases the cost of treatment of open tibia fractures and increases the time spent off work. Several preventive modalities have been suggested in literature with variable success, but no standard protocol exists.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objectives:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The aim of this study was to determine the most appropriate method of preventing equinus deformity of the ankle joint during the management of open tibia fractures with unilateral uniplanar external fixators by comparing plaster of paris (POP) backslab application with passive ankle physiotherapy using strips of car tyre inner tubing.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Materials and Methods:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The study was a prospective randomised study involving patients with open tibia fractures who were managed with external fixators at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital between April 2020 and February 2021. Patients were randomised into two groups; one group had below knee POP backslab and the other group did passive ankle physiotherapy using a strip of car tyre inner tubing. The passive ankle range of motion was measured at the beginning and after 6 weeks using a goniometer.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Fifty-six participants were recruited with 29 in the POP backslab group and 27 in the ankle physiotherapy group. The median age was 35.0 years. Male-to-female ratio was 4.6:1. Motor vehicle crash contributed to over 90% with 42.9% being motorbike riders. Initial and final mean ankle measurements for the POP backslab group were 6.79\u00b0 and 10.14\u00b0 for dorsiflexion and 29.93\u00b0 and 34.52\u00b0 for plantarflexion, respectively. The ankle physiotherapy group had initial and final dorsiflexion of 7.19\u00b0 and 12.85\u00b0 and plantarflexion of 30.44\u00b0 and 34.52\u00b0, respectively. The ankle physiotherapy group had a better range of motion (47.37\u00b0) than the POP group (40.66\u00b0) with a\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">P<\/jats:italic>\n                      value of 0.008. One participant (3.7%) from the ankle physiotherapy group had equinus deformity compared with seven (24%) from the POP backslab group, a difference which gives a\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">P<\/jats:italic>\n                      value of 0.029.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Passive ankle physiotherapy with car tyre inner tube is a better and cheaper modality of preventing ankle equinus deformity and maintaining ankle range of motion.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.4103\/jwas.jwas_87_23","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,11]],"date-time":"2023-12-11T08:18:44Z","timestamp":1702282724000},"page":"102-108","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1097\/lww.0000000000001000","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Prevention of equinus deformity after external fixation for open tibia fractures: A comparison between plaster of Paris backslab and passive ankle physiotherapy"],"prefix":"10.4103","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Samuel Quarshie","family":"Lartey","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Orthopedics and Trauma Unit, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Henry","family":"Holdbrook-Smith","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Orthopedics and Trauma Unit, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Daniel Tettey","family":"Baddoo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Orthopedics and Trauma Unit, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Agbeko","family":"Ocloo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Orthopedics and Trauma Unit, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Senyo","family":"Gudugbe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Orthopaedics Unit, Holy Family Hospital, Techiman, Bono East, Ghana"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"276","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"CIT0001-20240907","first-page":"12179","article-title":"Effects of external fixation technique on hospitalization time, fracture healing time and complication rate of pediatric fracture","volume":"10","author":"Qiu","year":"2017","journal-title":"Int J Clin Exp Med"},{"key":"CIT0002-20240907","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"19","DOI":"10.1177\/014107688808100109","article-title":"Ankle motion after external fixation of tibial fractures","volume":"81","author":"Taylor","year":"1988","journal-title":"J R Soc 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