Objective To compare the clinical effectiveness of external fixation,expert tibial nail (ETN) and minimally invasive percutaneous plate osteosynthesis (MIPPO) in the treatment of AO type 43A tibial fractures.Methods The clinical data of 102 patients with AO type 43A tibial fracture were retrospectively analyzed who had been treated from June 2010 to June 2014.They were 68 men and 34 women,from 18 to 71 years of age (average,36 years).By AO classification,there were 36 cases of type A1,45 ones of type A2,and 21 ones of type A3.External fixation was used in 30 cases,MIPPO in 42,and ETN in 30.The 3 groups were compared in terms of operation time,blood loss,fracture healing time,complications and functional evaluation according to American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) criteria for middle and fore foot.Results The operation time in external fixation group (72.7 ± 16.1 min) was significantly less than in MIPPO group (101.5±15.1 min) and ETN group (115.0±11.2 min) (P ＜0.05).The blood loss and fracture healing time in external fixation group were (320.6 ±40.8 mL) and (160.6 ± 25.0 days),significantly greater than in MIPPO group (125.5 ± 27.3 mL and 120.3 ± 20.2 days)and ETN group (124.2±25.4mL and 125.5±25.6 days) (P ＜0.05).The total complication rate in external fixation group (53.3％,16/30) was significantly higher than in MIPPO group (9.5％,4/42) and ETN group (10.0％,3/30) (P ＜ 0.05).The total AOFAS excellent to good rate in external fixation group (66.7％,20/30) was significantly lower than in MIPPO group (88.1％,37/42) and ETN group (90.0％,27/30) (P ＜ 0.05).However,there were no significant differences between MIPPO and ETN groups concerning all the above outcome indicators (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions For AO type 43A tibial fractures,internal fixation should be the first choice.Both MIPPO and ETN can lead to good clinical efficacy.However,in cases where internal fixation is not suitable,external fixation with distal lateral tibial nails at the Chaput tuberosity can obtain satisfactory ankle function.