You are here

Article Text

Article menu
Download PDFPDF
Orthopaedics
Emergency definitive management of a subtalar dislocation with an associated lateral malleolus fracture
  1. Max Little,
  2. Alexander Beer and
  3. Krisztian Deierl
  1. Trauma and Orthopaedics, West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Watford, UK
  1. Correspondence to Max Little; max.little{at}nhs.net

Abstract

Lateral subtalar dislocations are rare injuries with the potential for misdiagnosis and for poor patient outcomes if missed. Prompt reduction and surgical intervention is the consensus and is key to improved patient outcomes.

We present a case of a male patient in his 70s who was brought in by ambulance to the emergency department late one afternoon with a lateral subtalar dislocation associated with calcaneal and lateral malleolar fractures. He was operated on that evening, involving cannulated screw fixation of the calcaneus and buttress plating of the lateral malleolus. Non-weight-bearing mobilisation was permitted at 2 weeks and weight-bearing was commenced at 6 weeks postoperatively.

The authors could not find any precedent in the literature for same-day definitive fixation and early mobilisation of this rare but significant injury, the combination of which resulted in excellent functional outcomes for the patient.

  • Trauma
  • Orthopaedics
  • Orthopaedic and trauma surgery

https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2023-257744

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    View Full Text

    Footnotes

    • Twitter @Krisztian Deierl

    • Contributors The following authors were responsible for drafting of the text, sourcing and editing of clinical images, investigation results, drawing original diagrams and algorithms, and critical revision for important intellectual content: ML, AB and KD. The following authors gave final approval of the manuscript: KD.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Case reports provide a valuable learning resource for the scientific community and can indicate areas of interest for future research. They should not be used in isolation to guide treatment choices or public health policy.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.