Tibia fracture

[speedog]

So pretty much the last match in a senior high school wrestling tournament today and a young lad on my daughter's team suffers an injury suspected to be a broken tibia. He was in considerable pain and all attention was certainly being paid to the front lower bone structure of his left leg.

So school me on what kind of treatment they'll do and what kind of recovery he'll be facing including timelines. Certainly what reading I've done and discussions I've had with people from the wrestling world would indicate that surgery is probable and that recovery will be a lot longer then many other bone breaks.

Any beyonders have some first hand knowledge or experience in an injury such as this - just sucks that this kid's wrestling season is done so close to cities and provincials.

[1-Bar]

Depends what it actually is and how he responds to therapy. Crude estimates: At least 1 month in crutches. 3 months to fully weight bear. 4-6 months to train light.

[Dumbass17]

my buddy just broke his tibia while skiing a few weeks ago. had a 6 hour surgery and has a 8" surgery/staple wound on the top of his leg, and both sides of his leg. looks gross from the pics he sent me. went home after a week. is on crutches for the next while...
sounded very painful

[Vmack]

depends on what type and how bad the fracture is.
if its a full clean break then likely surgery with a titanium rod.
if its a partial, they may just use pins in surgery to secure it before casting.
Or if its just a hairline fracture, probably just cast him up or throw him in a walking boot.

Either of the top two, probably looking close to 2-3 months before he can really get moving. Also depends on any surrounding damage to musculature and other soft tissue.

[firebane]

Snapped my tibia clean in two down near my ankle snowboarding. 3 weeks in a cast and that was it for me.

It hurt and was tender for awhile and didn't have full ROM of motion for some stuff but it healed up good and have no residual problems.

[speedog]

Well, he was very lucky ending up with a severe sprain 1/3 of the way up between his ankle and knee - still will take time to heal.

[Vmack]

Originally posted by speedog
Well, he was very lucky ending up with a severe sprain 1/3 of the way up between his ankle and knee - still will take time to heal.

thats good news. sprains that are not involving a joint directly typically heal up quicker because there is less movement in there, whereas if it was the knee or ankle, the constant movement makes it take longer.

hope he's back on the mats soon

[Red@8]

Originally posted by Vmack


thats good news. sprains that are not involving a joint directly typically heal up quicker because there is less movement in there, whereas if it was the knee or ankle, the constant movement makes it take longer.

hope he's back on the mats soon

Somewhat off topic but "sprains" are limited to joints. What you and the OP are talking about is generally referred to as a "strain". Also, sometimes in the lower leg/upper ankle its not motion (can immobilize) but rather vasculature that delays healing.

Hopefully the guy is back to wrestling soon.

[timdog]

i broke my tibia snowboarding a few year ago. luckily a clean break so no surgery required. on crutches and in a cast for 6 weeks. couldnt put ANY weight on it during that time. then another solid 2 weeks before I could actually walk normally and put full weight on it.

[mazdavirgin]

How are you people breaking your tibia snowboarding?

[firebane]

Originally posted by mazdavirgin
How are you people breaking your tibia snowboarding?

For myself I caught the back edge of my snowboard resulting in 3 complete back flips and when I hit the second I heard a loud snap thinking it was my board.

Nope broke my tibia. Doctor said due to me snowboarding I got off lucky due to the softness of the boot. If I was skiing would have probably shattered my leg.

[xrayvsn]

Originally posted by Red@8


Somewhat off topic but "sprains" are limited to joints. What you and the OP are talking about is generally referred to as a "strain". Also, sometimes in the lower leg/upper ankle its not motion (can immobilize) but rather vasculature that delays healing.

Hopefully the guy is back to wrestling soon.

No, what he is talking about is a high ankle sprain. Which is an injury (sprain or tear) of the tib/fib syndesmosis. Depending on severity, these can take a very long time to heal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_ankle_sprain

Also, in general, a sprain is a ligamentous injury, so not technically limited to joints. Strains affect tendons and their muscular attachments. As it is the syndesmotic ligament that is injured in a high ankle sprain, this is not a "strain" as you say, but genuinely a sprain. If you are going to correct the layperson and their usage of a medical term, at least be sure you are correct yourself.

[klumsy_tumbler]

Originally posted by xrayvsn


No, what he is talking about is a high ankle sprain. Which is an injury (sprain or tear) of the tib/fib syndesmosis. Depending on severity, these can take a very long time to heal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_ankle_sprain

Also, in general, a sprain is a ligamentous injury, so not technically limited to joints. Strains affect tendons and their muscular attachments. As it is the syndesmotic ligament that is injured in a high ankle sprain, this is not a "strain" as you say, but genuinely a sprain. If you are going to correct the layperson and their usage of a medical term, at least be sure you are correct yourself.

Speaking from experience, this dude is in for a not-so-fun healing process... I completely ruptured most of the tendons and ligaments in my ankle a few years ago, and had to get 3 screws through my tib and fib to basically hold them together while everything healed back into place (they were taken out about 7 months later).

[Vmack]

Originally posted by klumsy_tumbler


Speaking from experience, this dude is in for a not-so-fun healing process... I completely ruptured most of the tendons and ligaments in my ankle a few years ago, and had to get 3 screws through my tib and fib to basically hold them together while everything healed back into place (they were taken out about 7 months later).

fortunately from the sounds of it, this kid didn't rupture anything. so if he handles it well and rehabs appropriately, it shouldn't get any worse, and would hopefully be up and running soon since he wont need the screws.

that injury really sucks tho, I'm glad I've gotten this far without anything worse than a month on crutches

[timdog]

Originally posted by mazdavirgin
How are you people breaking your tibia snowboarding?

I have been asked this question so many times, haha. kind of hard to explain in writing but basically I caught an edge at a fairly high speed and flipped up in the air, landing hard on my tail edge. the pressure, and probably my horrible reaction/technique to the fall, caused my tibia to snap right around the ankle area. but firebane is right, if it was a stiff ski boot i probably would have just snapped my leg up higher.

[Red@8]

Originally posted by xrayvsn


No, what he is talking about is a high ankle sprain. Which is an injury (sprain or tear) of the tib/fib syndesmosis. Depending on severity, these can take a very long time to heal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_ankle_sprain

Also, in general, a sprain is a ligamentous injury, so not technically limited to joints. Strains affect tendons and their muscular attachments. As it is the syndesmotic ligament that is injured in a high ankle sprain, this is not a "strain" as you say, but genuinely a sprain. If you are going to correct the layperson and their usage of a medical term, at least be sure you are correct yourself.

I automatically assumed that "1/3rd of the way between ankle and knee" was out of the range of a high ankle sprain. Perhaps an extensor muscle or tendon injury ("strain"). You are assuming that he is talking about a high ankle sprain with that statement. Perhaps you are right.

I was trying to keep the description as general as possible for a layperson (ligaments = joint = sprain). The syndesmotic ligament is considered part of the ankle joint around these parts.

Refresh my memory on ligaments that are not part of joints (peritoneal?). If I am not mistaken these are very rare.

Nothing I stated in my previous post was incorrect, except for the assumption on the exact location of the injury. The same assumption you are making in your post.

On a side note xrayvsn - are you an msk rad? Do you see a lot of f&a path?