COMPARISON OF LATERAL ANKLE LIGAMENTOUS RECONSTRUCTION PROCEDURES

The static restraints of various surgical procedures for chronic later al ankle instability were compared. Forty cadaveric ankles were divide d equally into the following five groups: 1) ankles with intact anteri or talofibular and calcaneofibular ligaments, 2) ankles with incised a nterior talofibular and calcaneofibular ligaments, 3) ankles with Chri sman-Snook procedure, 4) ankles with Watson-Jones procedure, or 5) ank les with modified Brostrom procedure. All ankles were placed in a mech anical apparatus for anterior drawer stress and inversion stress tests . After each application of force, a radiograph of the ankle joint was taken, and the anterior talar displacement and the talar tilt angle w ere measured. All procedures reduced anterior drawer and talar tilt wh en compared with the ankles with incised anterior talofibular and calc aneofibular ligaments. Significant differences were found among the gr oups for both inversion and anterior drawer stress at all forces, exce pt for the third and fourth groups. The modified Brostrom group had th e least amount of anterior talar displacement and talar tilt angle at all forces. There were no significant differences between the Watson-J ones and the Chrisman-Snook procedures in anterior talar displacement and talar tilt. The modified Brostrom procedure produced a greater mec hanical restraint than either of the other procedures.