Oblique lateral incision versus L-shaped lateral incision for the calcaneal fracture treatment

Objective To evaluate the outcomes after treatment of calcaneal fracture with oblique lateral incision and L-shaped lateral incision.Methods Twenty-seven patients with 32 fractured calcanei operatively treated with two incisions were evaluated.15 patients with 18 fractures were treated with the L-shaped lateral incision.In the other group,12 patients with 14 fractures were treated with an oblique lateral incision.Results Evaluation was made after an average 9～16(10.6±1.7) months follow-up.The incisions healed with A grade in 14 and 12 feet with L and oblique incision,respectively,and B grade in 3 and 2,and C grade in 1 and 0.As regard to the incidence of incision complication,incision healing time,fracture healing time and AOFAS at the time of the last follow-up,the oblique incision group was better than the L-shaped incision group.However,there was no statistical difference(P0.05).Conclusions The oblique lateral incision can be considered as a good alternative of lateral approach for calcaneal fracture treatment.