PURPOSE: To compare the outcome after early versus late surgery for closed @entity1171 in terms of the length of hospital stay and infection rate. METHODS: Records of 95 @entity1 and 119 @entity1 aged 14 to 92 (mean, 46) years who underwent open reduction and internal fixation for @entity1171 during three 6-month periods in 2004, 2007, and 2010 were reviewed. 82 and 132 @entity1 underwent surgery <24 hours and >24 hours after presentation, respectively. The most common reason for delayed surgery was unavailability of the operation theatre, followed by delayed admission to the @entity174 clinic and excess soft tissue swelling. RESULTS: @entity1 and injury characteristics of the 3 study periods were comparable (p=0.399). The early and late surgery groups were comparable in proportions of various @entity174 patterns but not in @entity1 age (40 vs. 49 years, p=0.002). The mean postoperative length of hospital stay was shorter in the early surgery group (2.9 vs. 5.5 days, p=0.009). The 2 groups did not differ significantly in the infection rate (7% vs. 11%, p=0.589) or the need for additional surgery (3.7% vs. 5.3%, p=0.63). CONCLUSION: @entity1 with delayed surgery for @entity1171 had a longer postoperative length of hospital stay. Surgery should be performed within 24 hours of injury to minimise the length of hospital stay.

Early versus late surgery for closed XXXX .

@entity1171 :: ('MESH:D064386', 'Disease') :: ['ankle fracture', 'ankle fractures'] @entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['women', 'Patients', 'patients', 'patient', 'Patient', 'men'] @entity174 :: ('MESH:D050723', 'Disease') :: ['fracture']
@entity1171 :: (MESH:D064386,Disease) :: ['ankle fractures']
