ankle sprain

Approximately 30,000 ankle injuries occur every day in the United States. With the incidence estimated at more than 3 million a year and at a rate of 2.15/1,000 in the U.S. alone, medical specialists and other healthcare providers caring for the foot and ankle must take notice. Despite the millions of ankle injuries sustained annually, the true incidence may be underestimated, as fewer than half of individuals with ankle sprains seek medical attention from healthcare professionals. The economic burden associated with the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment is close to $4 billion annually. Ankle sprains account for half of all sports injuries and remains a difficult diagnostic and therapeutic challenge in the athlete. Accurate diagnosis is critical as 40% of ankle sprains are misdiagnosed or poorly treated leading to chronic ankle pain and disability. Implementing evidence supported diagnostic and treatment strategies is the goal for ensuring safe and rapid return to play. The Lateral Ankle Sprain (LAS) is among the most common type of ankle sprains suffered during athletic activities. Up to 80% of LAS are of the inversion type, and 75% lead to recurrence and instability. Although most individuals experiencing a LAS return to activity within six weeks, many report continued pain, diminished function, and instability. The purpose of this review is to highlight the epidemiology, pathoetiology, pathoanatomy, and biomechanics of the LAS, enabling sports physicians to implement the best practice guidelines and protocols to manage this common enigma. 

Introduction: Ankle sprain is a widespread impairment in sport groups; this impairment leads to an absence from the workplace. The ankle sprains incidence rates are induced by height, weight, BMI, physical fitness, level of match, classification of sport, and personal exposure to sport. Methods: A longitudinal case-control study was executed to verify the outcome of risk factors for ankle sprain at a Military Male School between 2012 and 2013 of 4987 people at risk for ankle sprain, a total of 234 cadets sustained new ankle sprains during the study, 432 non-injured cadets randomly selected as the control group. Results: Regarding to the total people at risk in our study the incidence rate was approximately 5/1000 ankle sprain-years. Cadets with ankle sprains had higher weight, BMI and higher scores in Army Physical Fitness test than the control group. Ankle sprain occurred most commonly during athletics (51.4%). Ankle sprain incidence rate did not significantly vary from different athletic competitions after controlling for athlete-exposure. Soccer and Ball Games had the highest ankle sprain incidence rate. Conclusion: Higher weight, increased BMI, greater physical conditioning and athlete exposure to selected sports were all risk factors for ankle sprain.

Study design: Descriptive study.Background: Many risk factors contributing to ankle sprains have been studied in medical literature with coordination and balance being two of the major endogenous factors described. These are influenced by lateralization – a developmental and adaptive ability determined by the asymmetrical construction of the human brain, with cross-laterality referring to mixed limb dominance.Objectives: To determine whether cross lateralization is a risk factor for the severity of ligamentous injuries in ankle sprains since no data is yet available on such correlation. Methods: Two hundred forty-four patients with acute ankle sprains (136 men and 108 women) were prospectively evaluated between April 2006 and March 2009. The mean age was 30 (ranging from 18 to 76). Clinical and ultrasonographic examinations were performed on the study subjects. Laterality was then assessed by the Coren questionnaire and the AOFAS score was calculated. Patients with syndesmotic injuries and fractures were excluded from the study. Those qualified were divided into straight and crossed groups, according to their laterality type. Results: One hundred forty-four patients displayed straight lateralization, while cross-laterality was found in 100 subjects. Patients in the crossed group experienced more multi-ligamentous injuries than those in the straight group (p = 0.02). Following trauma, a higher AOFAS score was attributed to subjects that displayed a straight lateralization pattern, in comparison to subjects presenting with crossed laterality (p = 0.04).Conclusion: Crossed lateralization is associated with higher severity of ligament injuries in ankle sprains and may be considered a risk factor for calcaneofibular ligament injuries.