Broken ankle/broken foot

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Symptoms

By Mayo Clinic staff

If you have a broken ankle or broken foot, you may experience these signs and symptoms:

  • Immediate, throbbing pain
  • Pain that increases with activity and decreases with rest
  • Swelling
  • Bruising
  • Tenderness
  • Deformity
  • Inability to walk or bear weight
  • Cuts, puncture wounds or protrusion of bone fragments

Some people feel or hear a snap at the time of injury and assume that means something has broken. However, a snapping sound or feeling is not always a sign of a fracture.

References
  1. Ho K, et al. Ankle and foot: Foot. In: Marx JA, et al. Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2006. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/119940582-3/803115108/1365/151.html. Accessed Feb. 11, 2009.
  2. Ho K, et al. Ankle and foot: Ankle. In: Marx JA, et al. Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2006. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/119940582-3/803115108/1365/150.html#4-u1.0-B0-323-02845-4..50060-3--cesec26_2557. Accessed Feb. 11, 2009.
  3. Toe and forefoot fractures. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic=A00165. Accessed Feb. 11, 2009.
  4. Ankle fractures. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00391. Accessed Feb. 11, 2009.
  5. Stress fractures of the foot and ankle. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00379. Accessed Feb. 11, 2009.
  6. deWeber K. Overview of stress fractures. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Feb. 11, 2009.
  7. Hatch RL, et al. Metatarsal shaft fractures. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Feb. 11, 2009.
  8. General nuclear medicine. Radiological Society of North America. http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?PG=gennuclear. Accessed Feb. 12, 2009.
  9. CT: Body. Radiological Society of North America. http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?PG=bodyct. Accessed Feb. 12, 2009.

DS00951

April 24, 2009

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