The effect of joint distraction osteogenesis combined with platelet-rich plasma injections on traumatic ankle arthritis.

Objective: To study effect of joint distraction osteogenesis combined with platelet-rich plasma injections on traumatic ankle arthritis (TAA).

Methods: 106 patients with TAA admitted to our hospital (from January 2018 to January 2020) were recruited as the study cohort and randomly divided into a surgical group and a combined group. The surgical group was treated with simple joint retraction surgery, and the combined group was treated with platelet-rich plasma injections in addition to the surgery administered to the operation group. After 6 months of treatment, the clinical efficacy of the two groups was evaluated, and the changes in the ankle joint function, the serum related factors, and the quality of life before and at six months after the treatment were observed. The incidences of adverse reactions (ARS) in the two groups were counted to evaluate the treatment safety.

Results: The total effective rate was 98.11% in the combined group and 77.36% in the operation group. The overall curative effect of the combined group was better than it was in the operation group (<0.05). After the treatment, the ankle joint movement angles, the joint function, the serum factor levels, and the quality of life of the patients in combined group were better than they were in the operation group (<0.05). No significant difference was found in the incidence of ARs (>0.05).

Conclusion: Arthroplasty with platelet-rich plasma injections can improve joint function recovery, inhibit the inflammatory factor expression levels, and enhance TAA patients' quality of life.