Posterolateral Distal Fibula Plate

Most fibular plates neutralise: they sit on the lateral surface and hold an already-lagged fracture. A plate on the posterior surface does more. Behind an oblique fracture of the lateral malleolus it acts as a buttress, and every load that travels down the leg drives the distal fragment into the plate rather than along the fracture plane. This antiglide effect can stabilise the fracture even before the screws do their full work, and it resists the upward slide that short oblique fractures are prone to.

The placement also moves the implant away from the most prominent part of the malleolus, which suits patients in whom hardware over the lateral apex would be felt under the skin. Whether the posterior or the lateral placement fits a given fracture, and whether an antiglide construct alone suffices or lag screws are added through or outside the plate, is judged by the operating surgeon from the fracture obliquity and the soft tissues.

At surgery the plate is seated on the posterior surface of the distal fibula, directly behind the apex of an oblique fracture line, or on the lateral surface where the approach demands it. In the antiglide role the plate is fixed so that it caps the fracture apex: the proximal screws anchor it to the intact shaft above, and loading then traps the distal fragment against the plate. K-wire holes allow provisional positioning while the reduction is confirmed. The placement surface, the screw plan and any additional lag screws are determined by the operating surgeon.

The plates reproduce the original system contour and hole geometry exactly, so they accept the screws and instruments described in the corresponding surgical technique without adaptation. BoneCraft stocks all four paired sizes for both legs, and a wholesale order can combine this posterolateral line with the lateral, composite and anatomic fibula plates of the same family in one shipment.