An ankle syndesmosis injury affects the ligament complex that stabilizes the distal tibia and fibula. These injuries can occur independently or together with ankle fractures and are particularly relevant in sports medicine and orthopedic trauma.
When syndesmotic instability requires surgical stabilization, one fixation option is a suture button system. This technique uses cortical buttons connected by high-strength sutures to stabilize the tibia and fibula while maintaining the intended relationship between the two bones.
The ORTHOSYN Double Button Lift System – Syndesmosis is designed around this fixation concept.
The distal tibiofibular syndesmosis is the region where the lower ends of the tibia and fibula are connected by a complex of ligaments.
These structures contribute to maintaining the relationship between the tibia, fibula and ankle mortise during loading and movement.
A syndesmotic injury can disrupt this relationship and lead to instability.
These injuries are sometimes referred to as high ankle sprains, particularly in sports-related cases.
Syndesmosis injuries can occur when rotational or external forces affect the ankle.
They may be associated with:
The severity of the injury and degree of instability help determine whether conservative management or surgical stabilization is appropriate.
Syndesmosis fixation aims to stabilize the distal tibia and fibula after reduction of an unstable syndesmotic injury.
Several fixation concepts are used in orthopedic surgery. One traditional approach involves syndesmotic screws, while another uses a dynamic suture button construct.
A suture button system creates fixation between the tibia and fibula using cortical buttons connected by high-strength sutures.
For suture button fixation, a channel is prepared through the fibula and tibia according to the selected surgical technique.
The fixation construct is passed through this channel, allowing the buttons to be positioned against the cortical bone surfaces.
The connecting sutures are then tensioned to support the reduced relationship between the tibia and fibula.
The basic fixation concept is:
Cortical Button → Fibula → Suture Construct → Tibia → Cortical Button
This creates a trans-syndesmotic fixation construct connecting the two bones.
The buttons provide cortical support for the suture construct.
Rather than relying only on fixation within the bone tunnel, the buttons provide contact against the cortical surfaces of the tibia and fibula.
Combined with high-strength sutures, this creates a fixation system designed to support stabilization of the syndesmosis.
The construct therefore combines:
Both syndesmotic screws and suture button systems are used for stabilization of syndesmotic injuries, but they use different mechanical concepts.
A syndesmotic screw creates rigid fixation between the tibia and fibula.
A suture button construct connects cortical buttons through a high-strength flexible suture system.
For SEO purposes, this distinction is particularly useful because users frequently search for topics such as suture button vs syndesmotic screw, dynamic syndesmosis fixation, and syndesmosis fixation techniques when researching treatment and implant options.
The appropriate fixation technique depends on the injury, associated fractures, anatomy and surgeon's selected surgical approach.
Depending on the surgical technique and fracture configuration, syndesmosis fixation may be performed with or without a plate.
When a plate is used for associated fibular fixation, the suture button construct may be incorporated according to the selected technique.
The objective remains to support stabilization of the distal tibiofibular relationship.
The ORTHOSYN Double Button Lift System – Syndesmosis is designed for controlled stabilization of syndesmotic separations.
The system is applied through a prepared channel extending from the fibula toward the tibia and can be used according to surgical requirements with or without a plate.
The system combines:
This provides a dedicated ORTHOSYN solution for syndesmotic fixation within the broader Double Button Lift product family.
Syndesmotic injuries are particularly relevant in athletes because rotational ankle injuries can damage the distal tibiofibular ligament complex.
Unlike a typical lateral ankle sprain, a high ankle sprain involves the syndesmosis and can represent a different injury pattern.
This creates an important search connection between:
Sports Medicine → High Ankle Sprain → Syndesmosis Injury → Syndesmosis Fixation → Suture Button System
For Orthosyn's SEO strategy, this allows us to reach users who are not initially searching for a product name such as "Double Button Lift System" but are researching the injury, surgery or fixation technique itself.
Double button systems can be designed for different anatomical applications.
In AC joint fixation, the fixation construct is associated with stabilization of the clavicle-coracoid relationship.
In syndesmosis fixation, the construct is used between the distal fibula and tibia.
Although both use the general concept of cortical buttons connected by high-strength sutures, their anatomical applications and surgical techniques are different.
This distinction is important when evaluating double button fixation systems.
Syndesmosis fixation is used to stabilize selected unstable injuries of the distal tibiofibular syndesmosis.
A suture button system uses cortical buttons connected by high-strength sutures to create a fixation construct between the tibia and fibula. This represents a different mechanical approach from conventional syndesmotic screw fixation.
The ORTHOSYN Double Button Lift System – Syndesmosis combines titanium cortical buttons with UHMWPE sutures and is designed for controlled stabilization of syndesmotic separations.
By connecting searches for high ankle sprain, syndesmosis injury, syndesmosis surgery, suture button fixation and dynamic syndesmotic fixation, this topic also allows us to reach a broader sports medicine audience beyond users already searching for a specific implant.