This is a plain-English translation of the academic paper above, prepared for patients, referring clinicians, and other non-specialist readers. It preserves the structure of the original paper while removing technical jargon. For the full clinical paper, follow the PubMed or DOI links.
Background
A minimally invasive way of treating very comminuted (shattered) heel-bone fractures — using percutaneous (through-the-skin) screws across the subtalar joint, rather than a large open reconstruction.
Rationale
Shattered heel-bone fractures are some of the hardest fractures in foot surgery. Big open operations risk wound breakdown and infection because the heel skin is fragile. A minimally invasive technique that can restore enough anatomy with smaller incisions is appealing in selected cases.
Results
Across 15 fractures (14 patients) followed for an average of 17 months, we restored the key anatomical angles in 80% of cases. The mean AOFAS function score was 74 — reasonable for this severity of injury. One patient had a wound breakdown (7%); three (20%) had heel pain from the screws.
Implications
If you have a comminuted heel-bone fracture, percutaneous screw fixation is one option in carefully selected cases — particularly when the soft tissue isn’t able to take a big open reconstruction. It restores foot shape and gives reasonable function.
Source: Malik C, Najefi AA, Patel A, Vris A, Malagelada F, Parker L, Heidari N, Jeyaseelan L. Percutaneous subtalar joint screw fixation of comminuted calcaneal fractures: a salvage procedure. European Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery 2022;48(5):4043–4051. PMID: 35247058.
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