Purpose
Observing the distal tibia, distal fibula, ankle joint, and base of the fifth metacarpal from a lateral view.
Assessing for fractures, dislocations, inflammation, and bone tumors.
Measuring the Böhler angle and Gissane angle to aid in the severity assessment of calcaneal fractures.
Preliminary Confirmation
Remove any obstacles.
If there is pain, do not force internal rotation or dorsiflexion.
Positioning
Side-lying position with the examined side down.
Flex the examined side’s lower limb, aligning it from the knee joint to the ankle joint in a lateral view.
Ensure the outer side of the foot is in close contact with the cassette.
Align the examined side’s lower leg axis with the cassette’s long axis.
Keep the examined side’s lower leg axis parallel to the cassette.
Align the ankle joint (medial malleolus) with the cassette’s center.
Place the RL marker.
CR, distance, field size
CR : Perpendicular incidence toward the medial malleolus.
Distance : 100cm
Field size : Covering the lower third of the lower leg to the base of the fifth metatarsal bone.
Exposure condition
50kV / 4mAs
Grid ( – )
Image, check-point
Normal (Radiopaedia)
The talocrural joint is clearly observable.
The inner and outer sides of the tibial pulley are overlapping in the anterior-posterior and superior-inferior directions.
The distal fibula overlaps with the center of the tibia (slightly posterior).
Cortex and bone trabeculae are clearly observable.
The base of the fifth metatarsal bone is included.
The non-examined lower limb does not overlap.
There is a tolerance for soft tissue visibility.
The RL marker is included.
There is no motion-induced blur.
Videos
Related materials
Weber’s fracture classification (used to determine treatment):
A: Distal to the syndesmosis of the tibia and fibula.
B: At the level of the syndesmosis of the tibia and fibula.
C: Proximal to the syndesmosis of the tibia and fibula.
