The anatomy of the lateral ankle ligaments that is frequently describe
d in articles and book chapters often lacks the precision of orientati
on and attachment points. We believe a knowledge of this precise anato
my is important to better reconstruct or repair lateral ligaments. We
dissected cadaveric ankles free of skin and soft tissue and made the f
ollowing measurements: areas of attachments of the anterior talofibula
r ligament, length and width of the anterior talofibular ligament, and
locations of the attachments on the fibula and talus. The same measur
ements were made of the calcaneofibular and posterior talofibular liga
ments. The distance of the calcaneofibular calcaneal attachments from
the subtalar joint as well as the angle in the sagittal plane with the
fibula was determined. We then used these anatomic attachments of the
ligaments to make comparisons with the Watson-Jones and modified Elms
lie reconstructions. Our results enable us to suggest a more anatomic
placement for ligaments in a reconstruction.