Background: A confident diagnosis and classification of proximal femoral and tibia fractures are crucial to determine further therapeutic procedures.
Materials and methods: In this article the current standards regarding diagnostic imaging of proximal femoral and tibia fractures are presented and the different classification systems are discussed.
Conclusions: Plain radiography in two planes remains the initial investigation of choice for suspected osseous injury. While this is usually sufficient to determine further procedures for injuries of the proximal femur, cross-sectional imaging is normally necessary in the diagnosis of proximal tibia fractures.
Keywords: Dual-energy computed tomography; Femoral neck fracture; Interrater reliability; Step-by-step diagnosis; Tibia plateau fracture.