Educational video describing the condition commonly known as a "snowboarder's fracture".
Snowboarder’s fracture is a common term for a fracture of the lateral process of the talus bone, which is located on the outside of the ankle just above the heel bone.
It is caused by external rotation, with dorsiflexion, inversion and axial loading. Fractures of the lateral process are rare and may be misdiagnosed as a severe ankle sprain.
Types of lateral process fractures
•Type I avulsion
•Type II large fragment
•Type III comminuted
Treatment
•Small fragments: excise
•Large fragments: ORIF. Usually requires CT scanning to determine if fragments are large enough to consider fixation.
•Comminuted fracture: immobilization. Follow healing of the fracture and functional recovery of the patient.
