Ankle joint complex mobility of children 7 to 14 years old

The ranges of motions of the ankle have been studied only rarely in childre n. The authors examined the mobility of the ankle joint complex of 245 heal thy children. The mean age was 10.2 years. In healthy children ages 7 to 14 years, the variation of the ankle joint complex range of motion was wide. The largest gender-related difference was recorded for passive plantarflexi on, which was greater in girls. Other statistically significant gender diff erences do exist, but they are small and probably lack clinical meaning. So me of the children had remarkable left-right difference in the range of mot ions of the ankle joint complex. This means that the " healthy ankles " can not necessarily be used in clinical practice as a reference when evaluating , for example, treatments of foot and ankle injuries in children.