A 14-year-old boy sustains an ankle injury while skateboarding. Radiographs show a fracture involving the lateral half of the distal tibial epiphysis, the anterolateral metaphysis, and running sagittally through the epiphysis. CT confirms three planes of fracture. What is the diagnosis?
- A Juvenile Tillaux fracture
- B Salter-Harris Type I fracture
- C Triplane fracture of the distal tibia ✓
- D Maison neuve fracture
Correct answer: C. Triplane fracture of the distal tibia
Explanation
A triplane fracture occurs in adolescents aged roughly 12 to 15 years as the distal tibial physis closes asymmetrically from medial to lateral. The fracture crosses three planes: sagittal through the epiphysis, axial through the physis, and coronal through the metaphysis. A juvenile Tillaux fracture is a Salter-Harris III avulsion of the anterolateral epiphysis in two planes only, without metaphyseal extension.
Reference: Tachdjian's Pediatric Orthopaedics, 5th ed.
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Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.