Five patients are described with a combined fracture of the lateral malleolus and the base of the fifth metatarsal—a combination not hitherto reported.
The mechanism of production of these double fractures is shown experimentally to consist in forced inversion while the foot is either dorsiflexed or at a right angle or slightly plantar flexed. Forced inversion with the ankle in plantar flexion produces a single fracture of the base of the fifth metatarsal.