Arthroscopic Repair of Lateral Ankle Ligament for Chronic Lateral Ankle Instability

Abstract

Category: Ankle Introduction/Purpose: There has a been recent increase in the use of the arthroscopic approach to lateral ankle ligament repair for chronic lateral ankle instability. However, the clinical outcomes of this technique are still unclear. The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate the current studies on arthroscopic lateral ankle ligament repair for chronic lateral ankle instability. Our hypothesis was that arthroscopic lateral ligament repair would result in excellent outcomes with a low complication rate. Methods: A systematic search of MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane Library databases, based on the PRISMA guidelines, was performed during August 2017 by 2 independent reviewers. Included studies were evaluated with regard to level of evidence (LOE) and quality of evidence (QOE) using the Coleman Methodology Score. Variable reporting outcome data, clinical outcomes, and percentage of patients who returned to sport at previous level were also evaluated. Results: Twelve studies for a total of 421 ankles were included; 92% of studies were LOE III or IV and the QOE in all studies was of poor or fair quality. The weighted mean preoperative AOFAS score improved from 59.6 to 95.0 at a mean follow-up of 14.8 months in 8 studies. Five studies utilized Karlsson-Peterson scores with mean postoperative score of 88.5 at a mean follow-up of 21.2 months. Three comparative studies were reported. The comparative studies showed similar clinical outcomes between arthroscopic and open procedures. The overall complication rate was 13.4% in the included studies. . Only 2 studies reported patients returning to sport and demonstrated that 100% of patients returned to sport at pre-injury level. Conclusion: The current systematic review demonstrated that arthroscopic lateral ankle ligament repair yields favorable clinical outcomes in the short-term. However, there is no clinical evidence to support the advantages of the arthroscopic procedure over the open procedure, and there is no long-term data currently available for the arthroscopic procedure. There was a relatively high complication rate associated with the arthroscopic procedures, with a 13.4% complication rate, although recent comparative studies demonstrated similar complication rates for both open and arthroscopic techniques.