Paul Tornetta III, MD: We know decision making with respect to calcaneal fracture management can be difficult. Can classification help? Classification is only valuable if it is prognostic and if it assists decision making. Otherwise, it is useless. Expert

Richard E. Buckley, MD. Excellent presentation on methods of treatment of calcaneal fractures. For educational purposes may be copied, adapted and presented with acknowledgements to Dr Buckley and OTA Highly Reputable

Bruce J. Sangeorzan, MD, is associate professor of orthopaedic surgery, University of Washington, Harborview Medical Center. The literature is full of suggestions for the treatment of calcaneus fractures. Yet it is possible to read hundreds of papers devoted to calcaneus fractures and still not know which to treat or how to treat them. Closed treatment with early motion is a moderately successful treatment that remains the standard to which new treatments must be compared. However, failure to seek alternatives to closed treatment would have us accept impairments beyond a standard that would be acceptable in other intra-articular weight-bearing joints. As in most orthopaedic conditions, no valid prospective randomized trial has been completed. In the absence of such a trial, we base treatment decisions on training, experience, retrospective studies and, most worrisome, the vagaries of third-party dictum.

Wheeless' Textbook of Orthopaedics
Discussion:
- typically results from fall from height (see mechanism)
- 2 types of frx may occur: extr-articular and intra-articular:

Reports from Medscape Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine 1999

A simple method for pedicle protection in flap surgery for posterior heel defects. Indian Journal of Plastic Surgery 36(2)2003

Talus Fractures Expert

Wheeless' Textbook of Orthopaedics

Wheeless' Textbook of Orthopaedics

Wheeless' Textbook of Orthopaedics

Wheeless' Textbook of Orthopaedics

Wheeless' Textbook of Orthopaedics

Wheeless' Textbook of Orthopaedics

Wheeless' Textbook of Orthopaedics

Wheeless' Textbook of Orthopaedics