The ankle is one of the joints in our body that is subjected to the most stress: it connects the tibia and fibula to the talus which is the bone in the foot that enables the ankle to move and rotate.
Ankle fractures are common injuries in sports, but they often also occur in everyday situations, such as an accidental fall, sudden twist or, in more serious cases, road accidents, or even jumping from a great height.
The main types of ankle fracture are:
Unimalleolar ankle fracture → this involves just one malleolus (medial or lateral)
Bimalleolar ankle fracture → this involves breaks of both the lateral malleolus and the medial malleolus
Trimalleolar ankle fracture → this is a fracture that involves the lateral malleolus, the medial malleolus, and the distal posterior aspect of the tibia, which is also known as the posterior malleolus
Talus fracture → a less common but often more complex injury