Significance of Lateral Process Fractures Associated With Talar Neck and Body Fractures

To determine whether fracture of the lateral process (LP) elevates the risk of development of radiographic subtalar arthrosis in patients with talar body and neck fractures.

Retrospective review.

Level 1 academic trauma center.

Eighty-two patients with 43 talar neck and 43 talar body fractures treated over a 5-year period.

Preoperative and postoperative radiographs were evaluated for fracture of the LP of the talus and subsequent development of radiographic subtalar arthritis.

Radiographic evidence of subtalar arthritis.

Seventy-six percent of talar neck fractures with involvement of the LP went on to develop radiographic evidence of subtalar arthrosis compared with 36% of talar neck fractures without LP involvement (P = 0.035). Thirty of the fractures involving the LP had a separate LP fragment. Fifteen of the 30 fractures with a separate LP fragment that underwent reduction and fixation developed radiographic evidence of subtalar arthrosis, whereas all 13 fractures with an independent LP fragment that did not have fixation of the LP went on to develop radiographic evidence of subtalar arthritis (P = 0.001). Comminution of the inferior talar articular surface was found to significantly increase the risk of radiographic subtalar arthritis in both talar body and talar neck fractures (P = 0.0003). An anatomic reduction of both talar neck and body fractures was found to be associated with a lower incidence of radiographic subtalar arthritis (P = 0.00001).

Comminution of the inferior articular surface of the talus elevates the risk of subtalar arthritis in patients with both talar neck and body fractures. Fracture of the LP is a marker for injury to the talar inferior articular surface and increases the risk for the radiographic finding of subtalar arthritis in patients with talar neck fractures.

Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.