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Knotless anchor repair produced similarly favourable outcomes as knot anchor repair for anterior talofibular ligament repair

  • ANKLE
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Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy Aims and scope

Abstract

Purpose

To compare clinical function after knot anchor versus knotless anchor repair of the anterior talofibular ligament (ATFL) in patients with chronic lateral ankle instability.

Methods

All patients who underwent arthroscopic surgical ATFL repair using knot or knotless suture anchors were included in this study. Functional scores (American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS), Karlsson score and Tegner activity scores) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were used to evaluate the ankle with a follow-up of at least 2 years.

Results

A total of 52 patients with chronic ankle instability were included in this study. Among these patients, 23 patients underwent one knot anchor repair procedure (Group A), and the other 29 patients underwent one knotless anchor repair procedure (Group B). At the final follow-up, there were no significant differences between Group A and Group B regarding the AOFAS score (89 ± 9 vs 84 ± 11; ns), Karlsson score (82 ± 14 vs 75 ± 18; ns), or Tegner activity score (4 ± 1 vs 4 ± 2; ns). There also were no significant differences in the mean ATFL signal–noise ratio (SNR) value (7.5 ± 4.4 vs 7.3 ± 2.9; ns) or ATFL angle (82° ± 7° vs 84° ± 9°; ns) between the groups.

Conclusion

When compared with knot repair, knotless repair of the lateral ankle ligament produced similar functional outcomes.

Level of evidence

III.

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Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81572209), Shanghai Excellent Talents Program (201609), and Shanghai Sports Science and Technology “Comprehensive Plan” Project (18Z004).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sports Medicine, Huashan Hospital, No. 12, Wulumuqi Zhong Road, Shanghai, 200040, People’s Republic of China

    Hong Li, Yinghui Hua, Qianru Li, Hongyun Li & Shiyi Chen

  2. Department of Nursing, Huashan Hospital, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

    Yujie Zhao

Authors
  1. Hong Li
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  2. Yujie Zhao
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  3. Yinghui Hua
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  4. Qianru Li
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  5. Hongyun Li
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yinghui Hua.

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The authors report no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

The study was approved by the Health Sciences Institutional Review Board of Huashan Hospital. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Written consent was obtained from all participants.

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Li, H., Zhao, Y., Hua, Y. et al. Knotless anchor repair produced similarly favourable outcomes as knot anchor repair for anterior talofibular ligament repair. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 28, 3987–3993 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-020-05998-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-020-05998-3

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