My husband has a broken leg and we would like a little more information. The Dr. said he had a vague linear lucency involving the posterior lateral aspect of the tibial metaphysis. We would like to know what this means in layman terms and what is the best way to treat this injury?
Hello, Although you have not mentioned your husbands age and how he got the injury, what I can infer from your description is that he may have an insufficiency fracture of tibial metaphysics. Now, in plain laymen words, it means a fracture which occurs spontaneously or with little injury when the bone has become weak due to aging, osteoporosis or other disease. So the bone does not have the normal strength which is required to absorb the normal stress and strain of daily movements. The fracture will heal by itself in most of the cases, however a work up is required to know the cause of lucency or weakening of the bone. Is it related to old age, osteoporosis or some other condition? The best way to treat this injury is to be off loading, that is to avoid weight-bearing in that leg and depending upon the severity a plaster may be put. Usually recovers in 6 weeks to 3 months. Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.