Rare Combination of Distal Tibial Physeal Injury (Salter–Harris Type IV) with Sagittal Plane Fracture of Talus Body: A Case Report

INTRODUCTION: Distal tibial physeal fractures and talus fractures are rare injuries in children and adolescents. Even rare is a combination of these two fractures. Axial compression is an accepted mechanism of injury in talus fractures with position of foot at the point of impact determining the extended patterns. A concomitant medial malleolus fracture suggests a supinated foot at the time of impact. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a case of a 13-year-old girl child who sustained a Type IV Salter–Harris injury of distal tibial physis along with a displaced vertical (sagittal) type fracture of the talus body. The uniqueness in our case was that the talar body fracture was a vertical type and that too displaced in the same line along with medial malleolus fragment. Open reduction of both the fractures was done through anteromedial approach followed by minimal fixation with K-wires. Good results were observed at 1 year following the surgery. CONCLUSION: Injuries of this nature are very uncommon and even more unusual in pediatric age group. This case report emphasizes the importance of having a high suspicion of uncommon fracture patterns in pediatric age group. Early and prompt diagnosis should be made using CT/MRI as a lot of these injuries may go unnoticed on plain radiographs.