Foot and Ankle Severity Scale (FASS)

Abstract

Increasing use of air bags and seat belts has led to the saving of many lives. However, the orthopaedic surgeon is now left to manage increasing numbers of serious foot and ankle trauma. It is important to injury prevention programs to have an injury severity scale for these injuries. The Abbreviated Injury Scale is used widely; however, it is intended primarily to gauge possibility of death after accidents. It is not sensitive enough to give meaningful data about the foot and ankle trauma epidemic.

The Trauma Committee of the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society has developed a rank order list of 91 foot and ankle injuries that commonly occur in vehicular crashes. The injuries are ranked according to severity (FASS-S). Estimated long-term impairment is also given for each injury (FASS-I). This scale is designed as a guideline to help rank importance and impairment of vehicular crash injuries. It is expected that the scale will be modified as future validity testing and other research dictates.