Lauge-Hansen classification
Trauma and orthopaedics
Also known as: Lauge-Hansen-Klassifikation · Lauge-Hansen sınıflaması · Lauge-Hansen classification (ankle fractures)
What it is for
Mechanism-based classification of ankle fractures: the first word is the foot position at injury (supination or pronation), the second the deforming force; each mechanism has stages that follow a fixed injury sequence.
Classification
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Supination-adduction (SAD) | 1 transverse fibular fracture below the joint line or lateral ligament tear; 2 vertical medial malleolar fracture. |
| Supination-external rotation (SER) | 1 anterior inferior tibiofibular ligament (AITFL) tear or avulsion; 2 oblique/spiral fibular fracture at the level of the joint; 3 posterior inferior tibiofibular ligament (PITFL) tear or posterior malleolar fracture; 4 medial malleolar fracture or deltoid ligament tear. |
| Pronation-abduction (PAB) | 1 transverse medial malleolar fracture or deltoid ligament tear; 2 injury of the syndesmotic ligaments or avulsion of their attachments (including the posterior malleolus); 3 transverse or comminuted fibular fracture above the joint. |
| Pronation-external rotation (PER) | 1 medial malleolar fracture or deltoid ligament tear; 2 AITFL tear; 3 oblique/spiral fibular fracture well above the joint; 4 PITFL tear or posterior malleolar fracture. |
| Note | Lauge-Hansen later described a pronation-dorsiflexion pattern (1953); most texts use the four mechanisms above. |
Source
Fractures of the ankle. II. Combined experimental-surgical and experimental-roentgenologic investigations
Arch Surg 1950;60:957–985 (Lauge-Hansen N)
DOI: 10.1001/archsurg.1950.01250010980011
PMID: 15411319
- Edition
- Lauge-Hansen 1950 (four main mechanisms)
- Checked on
Summary of the published classification in our own words. Not a substitute for the original publication.
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