Discussion
thrombosis, ankle fractures, dislocated bimalleolar fractures, fractures
THROMBOSIS, COMPLICATIONS
The purpose of this study was to investigate whether treatment with an intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) device could provide economic benefits in addition to the proven clinical benefits. The Vascular Impulse Technology (VIT) has been introduced as a method for IPC in the 1980s, primarily as a means of thrombosis prophylaxis [According to these findings, a potential saving in the VIT group could be found by €2000 regarding the ITT population (However, transferring it to the average and more benign ankle fractures is difficult and only possible to a limited extent at all. As could already be demonstrated in the shorter length of stay and the lower revenues and costs of all patients admitted with ankle fractures in general, the study patients suffered more severe fractures resulting in strained soft tissue conditions and thus being more prone to complications. Since the dislocated bimalleolar fractures, as included in the prior study, have an incidence of 15–20% among all ankle fractures it was assumed that of the 354 patients admitted in 2018 62 would have suffered from such an injury [Another potential factor for the cost-effectiveness of VIT therapy is that this therapy reduces the median length of stay of these patients by four days (see Fig. Concluding from a difference of 50 min OR time and around 7 h less personnel resources compared to incurred costs of below €200 if used frequently, the VIT therapy is a cost-efficient therapeutic modality in soft-tissue conditioning.