Impingement, tibial erosions, and “painful hardware” caused by a lag screw used for malleolar fracture stabilization are rare occurrences. We report a case of a symptomatic lag screw, used to fix a distal fibular fracture, that impinged on the distal tibial and causing symptoms. Awareness of the condition and early diagnosis based on thoughtful review of CT images are key to symptom alleviation. A review of the published data on the complication of “painful hardware” following ankle fracture fixation is also presented.
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