2017 OTA Annual Meeting: Weight Bearing or Non-Weight Bearing After Surgical Treatment of Ankle Fractures: The WOW! Study. A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial

115 patients who had undergone the surgical fixation of supination external rotation type 2, 3, or 4 ankle fractures were randomized to three different forms of postoperative management; unprotected weight bearing, protected weight-bearing, and unprotected non-weight-bearing. Functional outcomes were assessed using the Olerud Molander Ankle Score (OMAS) at 6 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year. At 6 weeks, the unprotected weight-bearing group demonstrated significantly better OMAS scores compared to the other forms of postoperative management. There were no other significant differences between groups over the remaining follow-up time points.