For the long-term operative treatment outcomes of talus fractures, restoration of articular congruence is an essential step. The study also recommended that the talus fractures should be treated after the soft-tissues get recovered. 

Many discussions persist concerning the preferred treatment approach for the management of talus fractures. The primary purpose of this study was to assess the long-term consequences after surgical management of talus fractures. Secondarily, identification of factors that influenced the results and associated approaches to improve such outcomes.

The study comprised of 84 patients with a mean follow-up of 9.1 years. The general health status, functional outcomes, and return to daily activities were estimated using the Short Form-36 Health Survey, Foot Function Index-5pt, and a numeric rating scale. Moreover, a correlation analysis within the outcomes and 14 radiologic, clinical, and demographic variables were also done.

The moderate mean disability, numeric rating scale and Foot Function Index pain scores found to be of 28.7, 3.2 and 30.2, respectively. Twenty-Seven patients out of 66 exhibited no return to their regular activities. Authors recorded good mental, but low physical, Short Form-36 component summary scores of 48.3 and 42.7, respectively. The complication rate noticed to be of 56%. The lower functional outcome showed a significant correlation with talus body fractures, osteoarthritis, and articular incongruence and better results were obtained with delayed surgery following trauma.

Talus fractures show a considerable long-term influence on hind foot and ankle function along with physical health. The type of fracture, quality of fracture reduction and postoperative osteoarthritis decides the success of operative treatment. It is advisable that efforts should be made to restore articular congruence in order to improve the outcome. Consequently, the study suggests examining the quality of the decline postoperatively on CT. Moreover, talus fractures should not be viewed as operative difficulties, but instead managed after the recovery of the soft-tissues.