Information about Arizona Malleolar Fracture Injuries
by Phoenix Malleolar Fracture Lawyer - Mark Breyer
As Phoenix personal injury lawyers, we have handled many cases where our client sustained significant injuries to his/her ankle. An ankle fracture can also be known as a malleolar fracture. This type of fracture can range from a simple break in one bone which may not stop a person from walking to several fractures that require a person to not put weight on it for several months.
The ankle fractures that we have seen range to pedestrian accidents, motorcycle accidents, slip and falls to even car accidents. One of the most significant ankle injuries we have handled was where our client was returning from the gym when a truck T-boned her vehicle. Our client's ankle got caught between the door and the inside of the vehicle. The truck impacted the driver's side of the vehicle where our client was driving. Our client had to be rescued by the jaws of life and ultimately they had to cut out the door because it was jammed so strongly on our client's ankle. She required multiple skin grafts.
We had a similar injury that was saw on another client, but he was in a motorcycle accident. He also had a very serious ankle break. He required multiple skins grafts as well and a complicated surgery to fix the ankle bones.
There are a wide range of ways a person can fracture their ankle and this injury affects a wide group of people. Broken ankles occur from twisting or rotating an ankle, rolling the ankle, tripping or falling, and impact during car accidents.
There are three bones that make up the ankle joint; the tibia (shin bone), fibula (small bone on the outside of the ankle), and the talus (foot bone). Severe ankle sprains can feel the same as a broken ankle. Therefore anyone that has injured their ankle should see a doctor for different types of treatment. Common symptoms of a broken ankle include swelling, immediate severe pain, bruising, tender to touch, cannot put any weight on the foot, and deformity. A physician will X-ray the injured ankle or use a CT scan to diagnose the injury.
Depending on the severity of the fracture doctors may not prescribe surgery. Instead they might have the patient begin putting weight on the ankle right away. Doctors may also tell patients to keep weight off for 6 weeks. Patients may wear a high top tennis shoe or a short leg cast.
Surgical treatment may be needed if the patient’s ankle is unstable. Surgery could involve implanting plates and screws on the side of the bone or inside of the bone to re-align bone fragments. The type of surgery necessary depends on the location and severity of the fracture.
Healing can take at least 6 weeks, but may take longer for the ligaments and tendons to heal. Physicians will commonly prescribe X-rays during the healing process to check on the progress. Patients mostly return to normal activities 3 to 4 months after the injury. Many patients participate in rehabilitation therapy which involves muscle strengthening.
Without surgery a patient has the risk of complications with the bone moving out of place before it can properly heal. Complications with surgery involve infection, blood clots in the patient’s leg, arthritis, and pain from the screws and plates.
Many of our accident clients, are rushed into immediate surgery because of the seriousness of their ankle injury. Usually even the ones who are not rushed into surgery ultimately end of having surgery because the ankle requires daily use. Generally doctors give crutches and even sometimes a wheel chair is needed so that a person does not put any weight on their ankle.
One of the things that we have noticed that has helped our clients to help strengthen the ankle is to wear a certain kind of bandage on the ankle area to tighten the area. Even some of our clients have special sneakers that they purchase. It certainly is not uncommon to see a serious ankle injury after an accident in Phoenix.
