Displaced intra-articular calcaneal fractures: 15-Year follow-up of a randomised controlled trial of conservative versus operative treatment T. Ibrahim a, * , M. Rowsell b , W. Rennie c , A.R. Brown b , G.J.S. Taylor b , P.J. Gregg d a Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Leicester General Hospital, Gwendolen Road, Leicester LE5 4PW, UK b Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Infirmary Square, Leicester LE1 5WW, UK c Department of Radiology, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Infirmary Square, Leicester LE1 5WW, UK d Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough TS4 3BW, UK Accepted 3 January 2007 Injury, Int. J. Care Injured (2007) 38, 848—855 www.elsevier.com/locate/injury KEYWORDS Calcaneum; Fracture; Operative; Conservative; Randomised trial; Follow-up Summary Aim: To report the 15-year follow-up of displaced intra-articular calcaneal fractures from a randomised controlled trialof conservative versus operative treatment published in 1993. Patients and methods: Of the initial study, 46 patients (82%) were still alive at a mean of 15 years post injury and 26 patients (57%) agreed to review. The patients had been randomly allocated to either conservative or operative treatment in the original study. Clinical [American orthopaedic foot and ankle society hindfoot scale (AOFAS), foot function index (FFI) and calcaneal fracture score] and radiological (Bo ¨hler’s angle and calcaneum height) outcome measures were used. The grade of osteoarthritis was also assessed at long-term follow-up. Results:At long-term follow-up, the clinical outcomes were not different between conservative versus operative treatment. AOFAS hindfoot scale: conservative = 78.5 and operative = 70, p = 0.11; FFI: conservative = 24.4 and operative = 26.9, p = 0.66 calcanealfracture score:conservative = 70.1 and operative = 63.5, p = 0.41. The radiological outcomes were also not different between both groups. Bo ¨hler’s angle: conservative = 10.48 and operative 16.98, p = 0.07; height of calcaneum: conserva- tive = 37.2 mm and operative = 38.2 mm, p = 0.57; grade of osteoarthritis of the sub- talar joint: p = 0.54.There wasno correlation between Bo ¨hler’s angle and the outcome measures in either group. * Corresponding author: Tel.: +44 116 258 8159; fax: +44 116 258 8111. E-mail address: ti11@le.ac.uk (T. Ibrahim). 0020–1383/$ — see front matter # 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.injury.2007.01.003