Abstract
Soft tissue complications are one of the most feared complications after operative treatment of calcaneus fractures. The incidence of wound complications is reported to be as high as 32%. The better understanding of the blood supply of the hind-foot together with the development of minimally invasive and percutaneous techniques helped to reduce such complications. Authors have reported on patient and surgery related factors that can contribute to skin and soft tissue complications however; drawing a definitive conclusion about the importance of each of these factors is cumbersome. In this article, we discussed the reported incidence of soft tissue complications associated with operative treatment.
Highlights
The goals of surgical treatment of displaced intraarticular fractures of the calcaneus are to restore the calcaneal height, length and axis together with anatomical reduction of the articular surface [1]
They suggested that the incision of the extensile lateral approach of the calcaneus probably divides this artery resulting in skin breakdown
The overall wound complication for fractures treated by extensile lateral approach was 32.1% compared to 8.3% for patients treated with sinus tarsi or percutaneous approaches [16]
Summary
The goals of surgical treatment of displaced intraarticular fractures of the calcaneus are to restore the calcaneal height, length and axis together with anatomical reduction of the articular surface [1]. Better understanding of the blood supply of the skin on the lateral aspect of the heel together with careful assessment of various risk factors before going to operative treatment of calcaneal fractures can reduce the risks of these problems. To achieve these goals, various approaches and methods of fixation were employed for operative fixation of calcaneal fractures [3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. The operative treatment of calcaneal fractures is associated with skin and soft tissue complications on the lateral aspect of the hindfoot.
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