Tibia or the shinbone is another long bone in our body, and is situated between the knee and the ankle. The lower leg consists of 2 bones, one is tibia and the other is fibula. The bigger and longer one among the two is called tibia. It is yet anotherstrong bone.
Being a strong bone, it requires a substantial force to break a tibia. Many times, during the tibia fractures, the smaller bone called fibula gets broken as well.
The typical symptoms of a tibia fracture include a sharp pain in the leg, immediately after the injury. The fracture can be characterized by an inability to walk, swelling and bruising, numbness or tingling sensation in the feet and toes, and visible deformity in the affected leg. In severe cases, the broken bone might even protrude out through the skin.
Tibia, being a strong bone, requires a very strong force to get broken. So usually a high-energy collision such as a motor vehicle accident may lead to a fracture in the tibia. Sometimes, the tibia may get fractured as a result of sports injury as well.
Tibia fracture is diagnosed by an X-ray, MRI or CT scan.
In this method, a rod made of titanium is inserted into the canal of the tibia. This is the most commonly used procedure;however, this process is not advised in case of children and adolescents, as the bones are still growing.
In this method, the broken bones are first repositioned into their normal position and held together with screws and plates fixated to the outer surface of the bone.