Abstract
In the past 5 years at our clinic, a total of 100 cases (107 feet) underwent operations because of an old tear of the ATF ligament. They could be divided into 3 groups by the complaints of the disability in doing sports as follows:
I. Instability
(1) Mechanical instability (14 cases)
(2) Functional instability (86 cases)
II. Ankle pain
(1) Pain caused by tension force (40 cases)
(2) Pain caused by impingement (32 cases)
III. Symptoms of ankle arthritis (4 cases)
All six cases of“loss of ligament”were in category 1 (1) . In II (1), there were many cases of old ATF ligament avulsion fracture, and of impingement of the talofibular joint by a tear of the ATF ligament at the inferior side where it is attached to the fibula. We named this the “L-shaped tear”.
The prognosis was good in most of the patients. But 2 of them complained of instability of the subtalar joint in the neutral position and of pain due to tendinitis of the peroneal muscle. These problems could be solved by using a lateral-wedged foot plate.
