DISPLACED INTRAARTICULAR CALCANEUS FRACTURES TREATED WITH THE GALVESTON PLATE

From January 1992 to August 1993, 59 calcaneal fractures in 48 patient s were treated, Thirty-three fractures in 31 patients were displaced i ntra-articular fractures and were treated with open reduction and inte rnal fixation through an extensile lateral approach with the Galveston plate (Smith and Nephew, Richards, Memphis, TN), Complete radiographs and CT scans were available for 32 of the fractures, The CT scan clas sification of Sanders was used, The distribution of the fractures was: IIA, N = 17; IIB, N = 2; IIC, N = 2; IIIAB, N = 7; IIIAC, N = 2; IV, N = 2. Sixteen (50%) had calcaneocuboid joint involvement. Preoperativ e and postoperative radiographic measurements of Bohler's angle, Gissa ne's angle, talocalcaneal angle, and Achilles tendon fulcrum distance were made, Clinical follow-up on 23 fractures in 22 patients at an ave rage of 21 months is presented, Seventy percent of the patients have n o pain or only occasional pain not requiring medication. Using the Mar yland Foot Score for assessment, 78% of the patients had a good or exc ellent result, The Galveston plate was useful for maintaining reductio n of intra-articular calcaneus fractures treated operatively and provi ded results comparable to other reported series.