Chronic ankle instability: diagnosis and treatment

Chronic ankle instability (CAI) is a very common injury but still remains an area of debate.

This review aims to define the current diagnosis and treatment of persons with CAI.

A PubMed (MEDLINE) search of the years 2010 and 2011 (1 January 2010 to 15 July 2011) was performed using three keywords: ankle and chronic and instability. The number of articles in English language that was identified was 57.

Low reliability has been found in effectively testing CAI in a clinical setting. No single force-plate measure is very effective in predicting if an individual had CAI or not. Availability of a nonradiographic device (ankle arthrometer) to measure ankle instability could improve diagnostic accuracy and facilitate decision making in patients with CAI. The sensitivity of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may not be adequate to detect lesions in these patients before surgery. In a symptomatic patient, negative results on MRI must be viewed with caution and an arthroscopy may still be required for a definitive diagnosis and treatment. Conservative treatment (rehabilitation, taping, brace) may reduce the occurrence of recurrent ankle sprains and may be effective in managing CAI. In patients with CAI, strengthening of the muscles around the ankle with well-planned proprioceptive exercises helped the patients return to normal living and sports activities, and prevents unnecessary surgery, especially in cases with functional instability. There is no consensus regarding optimum surgical treatment for CAI, but all of them often have good results.

Conservative treatment of patients with CAI must be the first-line therapy. Surgical treatment must be indicated only when conservative treatment fails.