Percutaneous ORIF of periarticular distal tibia fractures, perspective 2

Abstract

Distal tibia fractures are difficult to manage because of the scarcity of soft tissue, poor vascularity, and the subcutaneous nature of the tibia itself. Several surgical approaches have been described, including external fixation, open reduction, and internal fixation (ORIF), but the optimal treatment remains controversial. Minimally invasive plating techniques decrease the damage of bone, vascularity, and iatrogenic soft tissue injury in comparison with standard open surgical techniques. In this chapter, we report the results of several studies that described the advantage and the complications of each method. It describes step by step the minimally surgical technique using locking plates. This technique uses indirect reduction and maintains alignment by connecting the fracture without compression.