By Lucy Notarantonio
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A patient who underwent surgery on their ankle has been left with a scar in the middle of their butterfly tattoo.
The user SchmittHappens36 told Newsweek: "I had a bimalleolar fracture, and they had to go in through both sides of my ankle to install a plate and six screws.
"I think the surgeon did a wonderful job with the stitching. I was really worried my tattoo would be ruined, but I'm happy with how it turned out."
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What Is a Bimalleolar Fracture?
A fractured ankle can range from one bone breakage to several fractures that require surgery. This seems to be the case with the Redditor, who pointed out their fibula was broken in the comments.
Three bones make up the ankle joint:
- Tibia — the shinbone.
- Fibula — the smaller bone of the lower leg.
- Talus — the small bone that sits between the heel bone (calcaneus) and the tibia and fibula.
There are two joints involved in ankle fractures:
- Ankle joint — where the tibia, fibula, and talus meet.
- Syndesmosis joint — the joint between the tibia and fibula, which is held together by ligaments.
According to an orthopedic advice website, "doctors classify ankle fractures according to the area of the bone that is broken.
"For example, a fracture at the end of the fibula is called a lateral malleolus fracture, or if both the tibia and fibula are broken, it is called a bimalleolar fracture," states Ortho Info.
The post shared on the r/mildlyinteresting subreddit has received 17,500 upvotes since November 27.
Many Redditors have praised the surgeon for making the scar "satisfyingly precise."
The original poster commented: "I think she probably did it on purpose. I broke my fibula right above where the tattoo is, [and] didn't even think to ask if that's not normally where she would've gone in from. Either way, I think she did a great job and I'm not too bothered by it being a little off."
One Redditor commented: "Your surgery required an incision on the side of your ankle, the surgeon did you a favor and made it symmetrical with your tattoo."
Another user who wrote that they work in the medical field posted: "Your surgeon almost definitely made an effort to keep the incision in line with the tattoo, normally that incision would be more posterior as it heads proximally, [but] she cheated it anterior proximally to avoid going through the tattoo on an angle. Source: I'm an orthopedic resident."
One Reddit user wrote: "I'll bet it looked like the butterfly was getting surgery," while another commented: "Now you have two moths."
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