Comparative Study of Therapies for Fibular Ligament Rupture of the Lateral Ankle Joint in Competitive Basketball Players

Abstract

This retrospective study compares the results of different therapies for fibular ligament rupture in a homogenous group of professional athletes. The endpoint “competitive sports” was an outcome consideration. Subjects were examined by means of a standardized questionnaire and a structured interview. One hundred and seventy-nine of the questionnaires were completed and returned for evaluation. All of the basketball players with severe ankle sprain (supination trauma with swelling, pain, and inability to bear stress) were included. Those players with fractures of the foot, pronation trauma, or additional distal fibula or tibia fractures were excluded from this study. Of the 179 basketball players 160 (89%) had suffered severe ankle sprain. The treatment was divided into three groups: primary surgery (N = 35), plaster cast (N = 39), and functional treatment (N = 89). While simple ligament injuries (Grade I and II) were mostly treated functionally, complex ligament injuries (Grade III) were usually operated on. A total of 119 (74%) of the players reported no further pain. For pain reduction surgical and functional treatments showed advantages over plaster treatment. In the surgical group 63% of the players judged their regained stability to be equivalent to that of their healthy leg. Only 50% of the players in the plaster and functional groups believed their ankle joints to have regained the same stability as before their injuries. Despite the achievement of good results through surgery, there were clear differences in the players' assessments of their performance in competitive sports. Most subjects (92%) did not have any problems in everyday life regardless of which kind of therapy had been chosen. Of the players surgically or functionally treated, 80% regained their full ability to play, compared with only 46% of the plaster group. The results of plaster treatment are poorer than results of primary surgery and functional treatment concerning the endpoint “competitive sports.”