Sporting foot and ankle injuries in older athletes

Abstract

Sporting foot and ankle injuries in older athletes are scarcely documented, however, they can play a key role in ending one's professional career. The term ‘older athlete’ itself comprises a large amount of age groups depending on various factors, mainly depending on the type of sport. Ankle inversion/injuries sprains are by far the most common with the anterior talofibular ligament being most frequent to tear about 75%, these injuries can range from a simple sprain, to more serious conditions which require accurate diagnosis and early treatment to ensure a full and expedient return to sports. Syndesmosis injury count for 1–18% of injuries following an ankle sprain. Deltoid ligament tear in combination with lateral ligament complex may need acute surgery; peroneal tendon injury and retinaculum tear are found mainly to affect the peroneus longus tendon in this group. Overuse chronic pathologies and arthritis are the leading cause of damage in this athlete group. The orthopaedic surgeon needs to be aware of the more subtle presentations of significant injuries and use appropriate imaging to make the diagnosis and treat the athlete appropriately to enable them in maintaining a professional/semi-professional career as long as possible, this review explores this topic into detail.