Type:
Educational Exhibit
Keywords:
Extremities, Musculoskeletal bone, CT, Conventional radiography, Diagnostic procedure, Trauma
Authors:
D. Garrido, S. Dutra, M. Chaves, S. Amante, M. Brum; Ponta Delgada/PT
DOI:
10.1594/ecr2018/C-2084
Background
Lower extremity fractures involving the foot and ankle are common traumatic injuries that require imaging for purposes of diagnosis,
classification,
treatment planning and follow-up.
The foot is a complex weight bearing structure involving several small bones,
ligaments and tendons,
articulated with the lower leg in a synovial hinge joint known as the Talocrural joint or Ankle.
(Fig.
1 and 2)
Among these,
ankle fractures involving either medial,
lateral,
posterior malleolus or a combination of these make up the most common injuries of the distal lower extremity,
comprising about 55,7% of cases in the US (1),
followed by metatarsal fractures making up about 12,5% and calcaneus fractures with approximately 8,3% in the same population (1)
Most of these injuries are managed with conventional radiographs (Fig 3) and CT with multiplanar reformats (Fig 6) and occasionally 3D VRT (Fig 23) reconstructions to aid assessment of complex fracture patterns,
whereas MRI is also frequently useful for characterization of associated ligamentous or cartilaginous lesions as well as initial stress fracture detection.