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Talar fractures associated with ipsilateral femoral shaft fractures have been occasionally reported, but an unexpectedly high potential for simultaneous occurrence of the fractures in head-on collisions has not been well documented. We treated three patients with ipsilateral femoral shaft and talar fractures in a 2-year period starting in 2000. The patients were male, aged 25, 34 and 40 years, polytraumatized with other injuries. In all cases, the fractures occurred in the right lower extremities of drivers involved in head-on collisions. The talar fractures were not detected at the initial diagnosis. We considered that the feet had been dorsiflexed and exposed to an axial load from the front when the drivers pushed the brake pedals. This condition was considered to cause both fractures. Careful examination should be carried out to rule out talar fractures in swollen feet associated with femoral shaft fractures in head-on collisions.

Bone stress injuries are rarely being diagnosed in patients with sensory neuropathy, most likely because they may be silent in terms of pain. Load-related pain is considered a key feature of any bone stress injury, a symptom, which may be partially or completely absent in subjects with sensory neuropathy (loss of protective sensation). We evaluated the clinical course of bone stress injuries in insensitive feet in diabetic patients with polyneuropathy. We investigated 12 consecutive diabetic patients with bone stress injuries of the foot (bone marrow edema, bone bruise and microtrabecular fractures, on magnetic resonance imaging MRI), which were undetectable on plain X-ray. All patients suffered from diabetic polyneuropathy, none of them had an active foot ulcer. The patients presented with a swollen foot, which was only mildly painful and did not prevent them from walking. Complaints were related to the swelling, which increased during load-bearing. In seven cases, a traumatic event preceding the onset of symptoms could be ascertained. MRI disclosed stress injuries in 2.5 (1–8) [median (range)] bones per foot. In 11 patients, treatment was started immediately by off-loading with total contact cast for 17 (8–52) weeks, followed by gradual increase in weight bearing. One patient unfortunately received off-loading treatment only after deforming fractures had developed. All bone injuries healed uneventuelly in eight patients, and with residual mild osteoarthrosis in three patients without gross deformities. However, the untreated patient developed severe Charcot foot deformity. In diabetic patients with polyneuropathy, symptoms of bone stress injuries of the foot are atypical, in that there is load-related swelling rather than load-related pain. Immediate diagnosis, and treatment with off-loading, leads to a restitutio ad integrum like in non-neuropathic patients. Delayed cessation of overuse, however, may cause irreversible joint and bone damage (Charcot foot).