It is recommended that the ankle be held in dorsiflexion at the time of placement of syndesmosis screw. We assessed the validity of this recommendation. A two-part roentgenographic and computerised analysis of distal tibiofibular syndesmosis. The first part involved recruitment of 30 healthy adult volunteers. The second part involved 15 ankle fractures with syndesmotic injury requiring syndesmosis screw placement. In the first part individuals maximally dorsiflexed and plantarflexed their ankles in a specialised jig for standardisation. Mortice views were taken and intermalleolar distance measured. In the second part mortice views were taken in plantarflexion and dorsiflexion before and after the placement of syndesmosis screw in theatre. The intermalleolar distance was then measured.Introduction
Materials and methods
