Tillaux Fracture

  • Etiology:
    — Distal tibial growth plate fuses in medial to lateral direction making lateral aspect of distal tibia prone to avulsion injuries
    — Is a transitional fracture which occurs after medial tibial physis has fused but lateral physis is unfused
  • Imaging Radiograph:
    — Salter-Harris Type III fracture of anterolateral distal tibial epiphysis
    — Vertical lucency in distal tibial epiphysis
  • DDX:
  • Complications:
  • Treatment:
  • Clinical: In adolescents 12-15 years old

Radiology Cases of Tillaux Fracture

Radiograph and CT of Tillaux fracture
AP (upper left), mortise (upper right) and lateral (lower left) radiographs of the ankle show a lucency through the lateral aspect of the tibial epiphysis that is better demonstrated on the sagittal CT 2D reconstruction without contrast of the ankle (lower right)
Radiograph and CT of Tillaux fracture
AP radiograph of the ankle (left) shows a vertical lucency through the lateral aspect of the distal tibial epiphysis that is seen to extend into the lateral aspect of the physis on the coronal CT 2D reconstruction without contrast of the ankle (above right). The epiphyseal fracture is also seen on the axial CT (below right).