The anterior distal tibial tubercle provides attachment to the anterior tibiofibular syndesmosis. It may be considered a fourth, or anterior, malleolus (AM). Fractures of the AM may extend into the ...tibial incisura and tibial plafond. The purpose of this study was to analyze the pathoanatomy of AM fractures and associated ankle injuries.
One hundred and forty patients (median age, 61.0 years) with a total of 140 acute malleolar fractures (OTA/AO 44) involving the anterolateral distal tibial rim were analyzed with computed tomography (CT) imaging. All components of the malleolar fractures were analyzed and classified. Fracture patterns were compared with those of all patients with malleolar fractures treated during the same 9-year period. Patients with fractures of the tibial pilon (OTA/AO 43) and patients <18 years of age were excluded.
Of the 140 AM fractures, 52.9% were classified as type 1 (extra-articular avulsion); 35.7%, type 2 (incisura and plafond involvement); and 11.4%, type 3 (impaction of the anterolateral plafond). The fibula was fractured in 87.1%; the medial malleolus, in 66.4%; and the posterior malleolus, in 68.6%. An isolated AM fracture was seen in 4.3%. The size of the AM fractures correlated negatively with that of the posterior malleolar fractures. The proportion of pronation-abduction fractures increased and the proportion of supination-external rotation fractures decreased as the type of AM fracture increased. A fracture involving the AM occurred in 12.6% of all ankle fractures and occurred significantly more frequently in pronation-type injuries and elderly patients. No supination-adduction fractures with AM involvement were seen. The intraclass correlation coefficient for the proposed classification of the AM fractures was 0.961 (95% confidence interval CI = 0.933 to 0.980) for interobserver agreement and 0.941 (95% CI = 0.867 to 0.974) for intraobserver agreement.
Knowledge of the 3D pathoanatomy of AM fractures and associated malleolar fractures may help with surgical decision-making and planning. CT imaging should be employed generously in the diagnosis of complex ankle fractures, in particular with pronation-type injuries.
Depending on the individual 3D fracture pattern, fixation of displaced anterolateral distal tibial fragments potentially contributes to the restoration of joint congruity, tibiofibular alignment, and syndesmotic stability in complex malleolar fractures.
Injuries to the posterior malleolus are of prognostic relevance in ankle fracture-dislocations. The three-dimensional outline of the fragments as reflected by computed tomography classification, ...involvement of the fibular notch, and the presence of intercalary fragments seem to be of greater therapeutic relevance than the size of the fragment and amount of the articular surface involved. Operative treatment aims at reconstruction of the posterior tibial plafond, the fibular notch, and the integrity of the posterior inferior tibiofibular syndesmosis. Direct open reduction and fixation of posterior malleolus fragments via posterior approaches is biomechanically more stable than indirect reduction and anteroposterior screw fixation.
Almost 70 scapular fractures in children and adolescents, up to the age of 17 years, have been described in detail in the literature since 1839. The diagnosis of these injuries was based on autopsy, ...radiographs, CT and MRI examinations. The most frequent findings were fractures/epiphyseolyses of the coracoid, followed by fractures of the infraspinous part of the body and avulsion of the inferior angle of the scapular body. Less common were fractures of the acromion. Intra-articular fractures of the glenoid, or separation of an intact glenoid along the line of the anatomical or surgical necks, were reported only sporadically. Scapulothoracic dissociation was also recorded in several cases. The majority of fractures were treated non-operatively; operative treatment was used in glenoid fractures, certain fractures of the coracoid and fractures of the scapular body with intrathoracic penetration. Except for scapulothoracic dissociation, outcomes of treatment of these injuries were very good.
Miller Edwin Preston (1879–1928) is cited in the literature in connection with the first angled implant for the fixation of fractures of the femoral neck. Further research has shown that this surgeon ...emphasised the principles of internal fixation and is the author of several extraordinary and still-valid concepts: “There is no branch of surgery in which nature is more exacting than bone work. To be successful in this field, the cases must be carefully selected, the most rigid asepsis should be observed, the surgeon must possess a good working knowledge of anatomy and fully appreciate the laws of stress, strain and leverage. The internal fixation of a fracture is decidedly an engineering problem, as well as a surgical procedure, and it is probable that a larger percentage of failures have resulted from violation of mechanical laws than have been due to faulty surgical asepsis.” However, his merit has never been fully appreciated and his name fell into oblivion.
Introduction
Bone growth is a fascinating process, primarily due to its complexity. Equally engaging is the history of its study, which, however, remains unknown to most anatomists and surgeons.
...Materials and methods
A literature search was performed in original publications and historical sources.
Results
The early history of bone growth study may be divided into two periods. Firstly, the experimental one, between 1722 and 1847, which consisted in the study of bone growth by the drilling of benchmark holes into the diaphysis, and examination of growing bones in madder-fed animals. In the course of one century, four French scientists (Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau, Marie-Jean-Pierre Flourens, Gaspard Auguste Brullé and Frédéric Léopold Hugueny) and one British researcher (John Hunter) proved experimentally that the longitudinal growth of long bones occurred only at its epiphyseal ends and their final shape resulted from apposition and resorption processes taking place simultaneously both on the periosteal and intramedullary surfaces of the bone. In the second, the microscopic period (1836–1875), the physeal growth cartilage was discovered and described in detail, including its importance for the longitudinal growth of long bones. The first description of growth cartilage was published by a Swiss anatomist Miescher in 1836. Subsequently, this structure was studied by a number of English, German and French anatomists and surgeons. This whole period was concluded by Alfred Kölliker´s extensive study of bone resorption and its significance for typical bone shapes and Karl Langer´s study of the vascular supply of the growing and mature bone.
Conclusion
Research by French, English, German and Swiss scientists between 1727 and 1875 yielded fundamental insights into the growth of long bones, most of which are still valid today.
Introduction
German-speaking surgeons have left a deep imprint on the history of diagnostics and treatment of proximal femur fractures. Some of the studies published in German have fell into ...oblivion, others are cited until today, although sometimes quite inaccurately. The cause of such inaccuracies are citations from secondary sources due to unavailability of the original or inability to read it because of a language barrier. In the current literature, globally predominated by English articles, the “German history” of treatment of proximal femur fractures remains undervalued. The aim of the present article is to point out its contribution.
Materials and methods
Literature search was performed in original publications and historical sources.
Results
The German-speaking surgeons have considerably contributed to the development of the treatment of proximal femur fractures. The analyzed period between 1847 and 1970 may be divided into three basic periods. In the first period (1847–1896), the German-speaking surgeons (Langenbeck, Trendelenburg, König, Heine, Dolinger) were the first worldwide to start treating the fractures of proximal femur operatively. In the second period (1897–1935), mainly in the 1930s, the initiative in Europe was taken over by surgeons publishing studies in France and in Belgium. Overseas, American surgeons were coming to the forefront. In Germany, only Pauwels developed the first biomechanical classification of femoral neck fractures. In the third period (1936–1970), mainly in the 1940s and 1950s, implants were designed (Pohl, Künstcher), based on close collaboration between German engineers and surgeons, that served as a model for a dynamic hip screw and a proximal femoral nail, which are currently the implants of choice in the treatment of trochanteric fractures.
Conclusion
The historical contribution of German-speaking surgeons to understanding the issue of proximal femur fractures and their operative treatment is far more significant than presented in the historical studies published in English.
Purpose
The calcar femorale (femoral calcar) is used in the English literature to designate the thickened medial cortex of the femoral neck. This term is, however, incorrect, as the calcar femorale ...is actually quite another structure.
Methods
Searching was performed in original and historic publication.
Results
The importance of the thickened medial cortex of the proximal femur in femoral neck fractures was discussed already by Robert Adams in 1834–1836. Therefore, the German surgeon C.W. Streubel, in 1847, called it Adamscher Knochenbogen (Adams’ arch). Due to misspelling, this term was gradually changed to Adambogen, and at the turn of twentieth century, it was commonly used primarily in the German literature. Then, it fell into oblivion and its “renaissance” came as late as during the 1960s, again in the German literature, in connection with operative treatment of trochanteric fractures.
Conclusions
However, under the influence of the English literature, it has been replaced by the term calcar femorale (femoral calcar), used ever since. The term Adams’ arch should be reserved for the thickened medial cortex of the proximal femur, while the term calcar femorale (femoral calcar) should be used for the vertical plate arising from the medial cortex close below the lesser trochanter.
Introduction
No comprehensive treatise on the early history of fractures of posterior malleolus (PM) has yet been published, and many substantial discoveries have fallen into oblivion—particularly if ...not having been published in English originally.
Materials and methods
Literature search was performed in original publications and historical sources.
Results
Early history of PM fractures from their first description up to the beginnings of their operative treatment may be divided into three basic periods, covering the era between 1828 and 1940. In the pre-radiological period (1828–1895), description of PM injuries was based merely on the autopsy findings in deceased patients. The first mentions of this injury were published by the British authors. In the radiologic period (1899–1916), the x-ray examination started a revolution also in diagnostics of ankle fractures, with the first radiographs performed as early as in 1899. Radiographic examination had subsequently become an integral part of the diagnostics of these injuries and initiated a number of significant studies of PM fractures. The first detailed mention of a PM injury may be found in the French and German literature. The period of early operative treatment (1918–1940), i.e., open reduction and internal fixation of PM, was started by the younger post-WWI generation, primarily the French surgeons, represented by Gaston Picot. His operative technique and the first six cases treated operatively between 1918 and 1921 were described in 1921 by Edouard Huc. Picot himself published his technique in great detail in 1923.
Conclusion
The early history of diagnostics and treatment of PM fractures witnesses the remarkable body of knowledge gathered about that topic by numerous visionary surgeons predominantly French and German surgeons immediately before and after World War I. They substantially contributed to the radiological examination and operative treatment of this injury.
Division of the growing long bone into individual basic parts, that is, diaphysis, metaphysis, physes and epiphyses, has become generally accepted and used. However, the origin of these terms is ...almost unknown. Therefore, we have analyzed the literature in order to identify their sources. The terms epiphysis and apophysis have been used since the time of Hippokrates, although with different meanings. During the time of Galen, the term apophysis was used to describe all types of bone processes, and epiphyses denoted articular ends. The term diaphysis denoting the middle cylindrical part of the long bone was used for the first time by Heister in 1717. The first to use the term metaphysis was Theodor Kocher in his books on gunshot wounds and on bone inflammation of 1895. On the basis of Kocher's study, Lexer published a radiological study of the vascular supply to bones in which he defined metaphyseal blood vessels as a separate group supplying a particular part of the long bone. The epiphyseal growth plate had no particular name from the time of its first description in 1836. During the second half of 19th century, this structure acquired different names. The term "physis" was therefore introduced in 1964 by the American radiologist Rubin in order to label the growth structure between metaphysis and epiphysis clearly. One year later, the term physis also appeared in the radiological literature, and during the following decades it spread in the orthopedic literature.
Introduction
Compartment syndrome (CS) is exceedingly rare in ankle fractures. However, the risk of CS development seems to be increased in the presence of a Bosworth fracture-dislocation (BF), a ...rare variant of locked dislocation of the fibula behind the tibia.
Materials and methods
Here, we report the case of a 39-year old man with delayed diagnosis of CS after having sustained a BF and failed attempts on closed reduction. The patient developed a flexion contracture of the hallux necessitating secondary fusion.
Results
At 3 years after the injury, the patient was capable of running, but had 10 degrees limitation of ankle dorsiflexion, persisting decreased sensation on the plantar surface and clawing of the lesser toes. A thorough review of the literature revealed nine cases of CS after 167 reported BF resulting in a calculated prevalence of 5.4%.
Conclusions
Given the extreme paucity of CS in malleolar fractures, CS in BF has a relatively high prevalence. Risk factors include severe dislocations, repeated attempts on closed reduction, and a long interval to definite surgery. A high index of suspicion is required because delayed diagnosis leads to lasting functional restrictions.
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