Radiologic evaluation of anlke fractures

The injuries to the anlke joint complex can cause not only bony fractures but also associated ligament rupture. Understanding of the mechanism of those injuries is important for the radiologist to give more information to the orthopedist to identify ligament injuries and then to fix the fractures. In 1948, Lauge-Hansen devised a classification of anlke fractures based on the position of the foot and direction of injuring force at the time of injury. On the basis of location and appearance of the fibular fracture, 4 type of injuries are identified; pronation-abduction (PA), pronation-external rotation (PER), supination-adduction (SA), and supination-external rotation (SER). 60 cases of anlke fractures treated at Kyung Pook National University Hospital from Jan. 1973 to Dec. 1982 were analyzed and classified. The results are as follows: 1. Male was more frequently affected than female and the sex ratio was 4 : 1. 2. The most commonly affected age group was 20's. 3. Right side was more frequently affected than left. 4. Among 4 types, the most common was SER type (33.3%) and next were PER (30.3%), SA (16.7%), and PA (13.3%) types