Calcaneal Plate — Conventional

Not every calcaneal fracture needs a locking construct. Where the fracture is simple and the cancellous bone is sound, conventional screws driven toward the subchondral bone of the facet hold the reduction well, and the plate restores the lateral wall as it is tightened down. The conventional plate also sits slimmer than a locking implant, an advantage on a bone whose lateral surface is covered by little more than skin and the peroneal tendons.

The size run does the fitting work. An extra-small calcaneus takes the extra-small plate without overhang toward the anterior process; the extra-large plate spans a big tuberosity without bridging beyond it. Two intermediate options complete the range, and the operating surgeon selects the size against the templated bone, along with the approach the soft tissues permit.

At fixation the plate is seated on the lateral wall after the posterior facet has been reduced and held with provisional wires. Screws placed toward the subchondral bone support the facet from below, and the remaining screws draw the plate onto the tuberosity and the anterior process, rebuilding the outer wall of the heel. Because the construct relies on screw purchase in cancellous bone, it suits fractures where the bone is sound; where bone quality is in doubt, the locking calcaneal plate of the same family is the counterpart. The reduction, the approach and the screw plan are determined by the operating surgeon.

The plates reproduce the original system contour and hole geometry exactly, so they accept the standard screws and instruments described in the corresponding surgical technique without adaptation. BoneCraft stocks the full size range, and wholesale orders can combine the conventional calcaneal plate with the locking version and the fusion plates of the same foot system in one shipment.