ANKLE SPRAINS - COMPARISON OF THE LONG-TE RM RESULTS OF FUNCTIONAL TREATMENT METHODS WITH ADHESIVE TAPE AND BANDAGE (BRACE) AND THE SUITABILITY OF STABILOMETRY

Both taping and bracing can be applied in the early functional treatme nt of ankle sprains. In this study the long-term (2.3 +/- 0.5 years) r esults of functional treatment with two types of bandages were compare d. Out of 165 patients treated, 112 were available for interview, 60 o f whom had been treated with adhesive, non-elastic tape and 52, with a confection brace. In 93 of these patients (47 in the tape group), the ankle was examined and stabilometry was performed. The distance (D) a nd area (A) covered by each patient's centre of gravity while he/she s tood on one leg for 30 s were measured. The following symptoms were fo und on the total population: pain on movement in 5%, swelling in 8% an d functional instability (recurrent sprain or a feeling of giving way) in 38%. Mechanical instability was found in 34%. Pain on palpation of the lateral ligaments was the only symptom whose frequency differed s ignificantly (P < 0.05) between the tape group (47%) and the brace gro up (20%). Stabilometric measurements revealed no substantial differenc e between the tape group (D: 436 +/- 100 mm; A: 192 +/- 87 mm2) and th e brace group (D:459 +/- 111 mm; A: 206 +/- 92 mm2). Nor was any diffe rence in stability observed between the injured and the non-injured an kle, between the stable and the unstable ankle, or between the unstabl e ankle with and without brace application. Stabilometry is thus not a n appropriate means of quantifying the symptoms of ankle instability. It can be concluded that the difference in residual symptoms after tap ing and bracing is only slight. For practical reasons and cost reasons , bracing might be preferred.