Surgery for fractures of the medial process of calcaneal tuberosity

Abstract

Objective To investigate the therapeutic outcomes of open reduction and internal fixation for fractures of the medial process of calcaneal tuberosity.Methods From January 2010 to January 2012,12 patients with fracture of the medial process of calcaneal tuberosity at 13 sides were treated by our department.They were 10 males and 2 females,with an average age of 30.5 years (range,20 to 39 years).One of the male patients suffered from bilateral fractures of the medial process of calcaneal tuberosity.The surgical treatments included open reduction,internal fixation by mini-plate or screws.In our cases,isolate screw fixation was used in 8 fractures,and mini-plate fixation was used in 5 fractures.Results Ten patients with 11 fractures were followed up for 14 months on average (range,12 to 24 months).All the cases healed uneventfully.No infection or fixation failure was found.The mean time of bone union was 11 weeks (range,8 to 13 weeks).Full weight bearing was achieved in a mean time of 12 weeks (range,9 to 14 weeks) with no obvious pain or discomfort.According to the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society ankle-hindfoot scale,the mean score was 90.4 (range,84 to 100) at the final follow-up.Conclusions In the treatment of fractures of the medial process of calcaneal tuberosity,anatomic reduction and stable internal fixation is the key to recovery of the calcaneal morphology and normal gait.A suitable therapeutic strategy based on the fracture pattern can benefit the clinical outcomes. Key words: Calcaneus; Fractures, bone; Fracture fixation, internal; Internal fixators