Except for stress fractures, these fractures often occur due to a traumatic injury or more pressure placed on the bone than it can handle. This can happen when you roll your ankle, have a direct blow to the leg, fall, or experience sports-related trauma. Learn more: What causes fractures? Read more: First aid for broken bones and fractures ». See a doctor if you have symptoms of a fracture, especially after a traumatic injury.
Your doctor will physically examine you for signs and may order an X-ray , which will show the break. For fractures that need more precise imaging, your doctor may order a CT scan to see how severe the injury is. Treatment depends on how severe the fracture is, the type, and where the injury is. Fractures are often categorized as closed skin is intact or open skin is broken. This prevents movement so the fracture can heal. You may get crutches. A physical therapist can teach you how to walk without putting weight on the broken leg.
Closed fractures may or may not need surgery. A splint or cast that prevents movement is usually all that is needed unless there are other parts of the leg that are also injured. Seek emergency medical attention if you have an open fracture. Follow the RICE principle while you wait for help: rest, ice, compression, and elevation. You may have some fluid draining from your incision site. This is normal.
Let your healthcare provider know right away if there is an increase in redness, swelling, or draining from your incision site. You should also inform your healthcare provider right away if you have a high fever, chills, severe pain that does not improve, or any loss of feeling in your leg. Make sure to keep all of your follow-up appointments. You may need to have your stitches or staples removed a week or so after your surgery.
At some point, you may need physical therapy to restore strength and flexibility to your muscles. Doing your exercises as prescribed can improve your chances of full recovery. These fractures often take several months to heal completely, but you should be able to resume many of your activities before this time. Health Home Treatments, Tests and Therapies. In general, you can expect the following: You will receive a general anesthesia. Or, you may receive local anesthesia and a medicine to help you relax.
A healthcare professional will carefully monitor your vital signs, like your heart rate and blood pressure, during the operation. After cleaning the affected area, your surgeon will make an incision through the skin and muscle of your leg. To do this, he or she will use tools like screws, metal plates, nails, wires, or pins. For a fracture in the middle part of the tibia, healthcare providers often use a specially designed long metal rod that passes through the middle of the bone.
Your healthcare provider will make other repairs, if necessary. After the team has secured the bone, your surgeon will close the layers of skin and muscle around your leg. Other imaging studies such as magnetic resonance imaging MRI or computerized tomography CT scan are typically not necessary, but there are some situations where a fibular fracture may not show up on a regular X-ray. These situations include injuries such as stress fractures described below.
Your healthcare provider will examine the site of the injury, and also examine the knee and the ankle joints for associated injuries which may impact the treatment of the fibular fracture. Fibula fractures typically occur as part of an ankle injury.
Whenever a fibula fracture is found, the ankle joint should also be examined for possible injury. The most common type of fracture to occur to the fibula bone is an isolated injury to the end of the fibula bone at the level of the ankle joint. These injuries occur in a similar manner to a badly sprained ankle.
Isolated fibular fractures, when the ankle joint is unaffected, often can be treated with simple protection. Known as a lateral malleolus fracture , these injuries occur when the ankle twists or bends awkwardly and the inner medial side of the ankle is unaffected. In these situations, a brace is sufficient to support the ankle. Once the pain has lessened, patients begin rehabilitation to resume mobility exercises, strengthening, and walking. Fibula fractures that are associated with injury to the inner side of the ankle, the medial malleolus , or deltoid ligament, often require more aggressive treatment.
In these situations, called bimalleolar ankle fractures , surgery is usually necessary to stabilize the ankle joint. Without surgery, the ankle joint often heals in abnormal alignment, leading to the development of ankle arthritis. Another type of injury that can occur with a fibular fracture is damage to the syndesmosis of the ankle.
The syndesmosis is the group of ligaments that hold the two bones of the leg together, just above the ankle joint. When the syndesmosis is damaged at the ankle, an injury that can occur along with a fibula fracture, surgery is often required to restore the alignment of the bones.
These injuries, often referred to as "tib-fib" fractures, typically require surgery to support the alignment of the leg. When the tibia is surgically repaired, the fibula does not normally require a separate surgery to align this bone. In some tib-fib fractures, a long-leg cast thigh to foot will provide necessary support without requiring the surgery. This type of injury is known as a stress fracture. The pain of a stress fracture may begin gradually.
Usually, the pain worsens with increasing levels of activity and is relieved by rest. How a fibula fracture is treated depends on a number of factors, including where the fracture is located and if other injuries have occurred in association with the fracture.
Surgery may be recommended, but usually a splint or cast is given to help prevent movement and allow the bone to heal. If possible, your healthcare provider can realign your broken bones without open surgery as well.
While isolated fibula fractures usually heal quickly, some may involve more complex injuries that require further treatment. That's why it's critical for a medical professional familiar with the treatment of fibula fractures to evaluate your injury and ensure that appropriate treatment is recommended. Because only a small amount of body weight is transmitted through the fibula most weight is transmitted through the larger tibia bone many types of fibula fractures can be treated nonsurgically.
However, as described, fibula fractures that occur in association with other fractures or ligament injuries often do require more invasive treatment.
The most common way to repair a fractured fibula bone is with a metal plate and screws. It can affect people of all ages and levels of fitness. It is often…. A fracture is a break in the continuity of a bone. There are many different types of fractures.
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What to know about fibula fractures. Medically reviewed by William Morrison, M. Types Symptoms Diagnosis Treatment Rehab and physical therapy The fibula and tibia are the two long bones of the lower leg. Types of fibula fracture. Share on Pinterest The fibula bone is the smaller of the two leg bones and is sometimes called the calf bone.
Share on Pinterest Simple and compound fibula fractures are classified depending on whether the skin has been broken or the bone is exposed. Rehab and physical therapy. Exposure to air pollutants may amplify risk for depression in healthy individuals. Costs associated with obesity may account for 3. Related Coverage.
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