Abstract

The limited soft tissue covering makes the treatment of open calcaneal fractures especially difficult. The most important objectives in open fracture management are to avoid infection, to obtain fracture healing and to restore function. Low-velocity open fractures with a medial skin split, the so-called "susper" lesions, represent a distinct fracture group in which standard operative treatment is not contra-indicated. The medial skin split is caused by the sustentaculum fragment which perforates the medial skin during landing on the everted and externally rotated heel.