AIM
An ankle fracture is an injury to bones of the ankle joint. If severe, the ankle joint may become unstable. Unstable ankle injuries are usually treated with surgery. The operation aligns and holds the bones in position with metal screws and/or plates during healing. In older adults surgery outcomes are uncertain because of bone and skin frailty. We developed a lower-leg cast called close contact casting (CCC) with the aim of offering an alternative to surgery.
The AIM study compared CCC with surgery to find out if this new treatment resulted in similar outcomes.
Theme
Adult Trauma
Body Part
Foot and Ankle
External Links
Here are relevant links to the study...
- [Main Study Report] 'Close Contact Casting vs Surgery for Initial Treatment of Unstable Ankle Fractures in Older Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial' published in JAMA
- [Full Trial Report] 'The Ankle Injury Management (AIM) trial: a pragmatic, multicentre, equivalence randomised controlled trial and economic evaluation comparing close contact casting with open surgical reduction and internal fixation in the treatment of unstable ankle fractures in patients aged over 60 years' published in NIHR Journals Library
- [Long-Term Follow Up] 'Three-Year Follow-up of a Trial of Close Contact Casting vs Surgery for Initial Treatment of Unstable Ankle Fractures in Older Adults' published in JAMA
- [Editorial on Implications] 'Implications of the Ankle Injury Management (AIM) trial: close contact casting or surgery for older adults with an unstable ankle fracture?' published in The Bone and Joint Journal