Is External Fixation The Best Option For Calcaneal Fractures?
Yes. This author emphasizes the use of external fixation and ligamentotaxis for treating calcaneal fractures, citing key benefits including earlier post-op weightbearing. By Gary Peter Jolly, DPM, FACFAS Intraarticular calcaneal fractures have long been recognized as a devastating injury but, fortunately, they constitute only 2 percent of all fractures. While there is universal agreement on the severity of their impact, there has been anything but a consensus on how practitioners should manage these fractures. The history of the treatment of calcaneal fractures has been a reflection of contemporary knowledge and techniques, including manual reduction, the Essex-Lopresti maneuver, pins and plaster, and simple immobilization in plaster. There has never been a “gold standard” because the outcome for almost every form of treatment has left much to be desired. In the late 1980s, Hans Zwipp reported on an extended lateral incision and the use of plates and screws to treat intraarticular calc
