A. Kaikkonen et al., LONG-TERM FUNCTIONAL OUTCOME AFTER PRIMARY REPAIR OF THE LATERAL LIGAMENTS OF THE ANKLE, American journal of sports medicine, 25(2), 1997, pp. 150-155
We retrospectively reexamined a total of 100 patients 6 to 8 years aft
er primary repair of ruptured lateral ligaments of the ankle. Fifty-ni
ne percent of the injuries had occurred in sports; the other main caus
es of the injuries were accidents at work (12%), in traffic (10%), and
at home (4%), Almost two-thirds of the sports injuries were sustained
in volleyball, The most common type of injury was a combined rupture
of the anterior talofibular and the calcaneofibular ligaments (66 pati
ents). According to subjective assessment, 74 patients had excellent o
r good results, For the anterior drawer sign test, 75 patients showed
no sign of instability in their injured ankles. The scores in our perf
ormance test protocol of ankle injuries were classified as excellent o
r good in 65 patients, fair in 27 patients, and poor in 8 patients, Th
e overall long-term results were acceptable in the majority of the pat
ients. Prospective, randomized studies are needed to clarify if nonope
rative treatment (i.e., early controlled mobilization) would give simi
lar long-term results.