Hey, radiologist! Thanks for the arrows!

[George K]

[Klaus]

I'm always amazed that bones can break so evenly, like the smaller of the two. That is not consistent with how bones break when I prepare a chicken or something

[George K]

I'm no orthopedic surgeon, but you don't have to be one to see that this is a mess.

A really bad mess.

The fibula (smaller bone on the right) might be fixable by putting a rod down from the top, aligning the two fragments.

The tibia, well, this is a real problem. First of all, the comminuted pieces below the knee have to be aligned. The only way that can be fixed is with a plate across the fracture(s) and screws into the bone. Another problem is the fracture on the medial (left) side of the tibia, right below the articular surface of the joint. I imagine a long screw will be needed to affix that to the rest of the tibia. I wonder how much of the articular surface of the knee has been damaged.

It's a real mess.

This is another example of what might need to be done:

[jodi]

There’s an arrow missing.

[Axtremus]

@george-k said in Hey, radiologist! Thanks for the arrows!:

This is another example of what might need to be done:

Just curious, how much load bearing capacity would you lose after a repair like this?

[George K]

@axtremus said in Hey, radiologist! Thanks for the arrows!:

Just curious, how much load bearing capacity would you lose after a repair like this?

Totally normal, once the bone heals together. The purpose of the metal is to keep pieces in place while healing occurs. It's not uncommon to see hardware removed after a while.