ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Surg.
Sec. Orthopedic Surgery
This article is part of the Research TopicInnovations in Fracture Fixation and Personalized Rehabilitation: Bridging the Gap in Orthopedic CareView all 8 articles
Fixation For Calcaneal Tuberosity Fracture (Beak Fracture) Using Preformed "L-shape" Hook Plate
Provisionally accepted
- 1Shanghai Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China
- 2Sichuan Provincial Orthopedics Hospital, Chengdu, China
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Objectives: Surgical management of calcaneal tuberosity fractures is challenging, as patient outcomes can be compromised by skin flap necrosis and implant failure. We propose a technique utilizing a prefabricated L-shaped hook plate, which represents an innovative clinical orthopedic surgical approach. Methods: In this retrospective study, patients with Beavis type II calcaneal tuberosity fractures underwent internal fixation using a preformed "L-shape" hook plate (2015-2020). Data on operative time, complications, and healing time were recorded. Functional outcomes were evaluated using the Ankle Society Ankle-Hindfoot (AOFAS-AH) and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) pain scores. Results:This study included 15 patients (6 females/9 males; mean age 52.9 ± 11.2 years) with calcaneal tuberosity fractures who underwent internal fixation with a preformed "L-shape" hook plate. At a mean follow-up of 17.1 ± 6.0 months, no postoperative complications — including wound issues, infection, nerve injury, or fixation failure—were observed in any patient. All 15 cases achieved clinical healing at an average of 10.5 weeks (range: 8-13). Functional outcomes improved significantly, with the AOFAS-AH score increasing from 24.0 ± 9.9 preoperatively to 93.8 ± 5.2 postoperatively, and the VAS score decreasing from 5.7 ± 0.6 to 1.3 ± 0.5 (p<0.001 for both). Conclusions: Emergency open reduction and internal fixation is recommended for calcaneal avulsion fractures to prevent flap necrosis. For Beavis type II fractures, the preformed L ‑ shaped hook plate represents a novel and promising alternative, demonstrating favorable early clinical outcomes in this initial series.
Keywords: avulsion, beak fracture, Calcaneus fracture, Hook plate, internal fixation
Received: 13 Nov 2025; Accepted: 06 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Huang, Zhang and Wu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zongde Wu
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