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Ask the Experts: Closed fracture of the right tibia
In the new Ask the Experts blog, key opinion leaders in the field of orthopedics discusses how they would manage and treat difficult case presentations. In the first blog, Peter A. Cole, MD, weighs in on the treatment of a 14-year-old football player with closed fracture of the right tibia.
The estimated incidence of ipsilateral ankle fractures, usually occult posterior malleolus, associated with distal tibia shaft fractures is 25% to 39%. The first issue, he said, that needs to be addressed is obtaining quality films of the ankle, knee and tibia shaft outside of splintage. “X-rays of the joint above and the joint below” is an important axiom to apply.
“I would want to be convinced the tibial tubercle physis is nearly closed to determine whether to nail the fracture,” he writes.
Click here to read the full Ask the Experts blog.