Abstract
Aim
To assess the response to treatment in patients with soft tissue impingement of the ankle managed with arthroscopic debridement.
Methods
Forty-one ankle arthroscopies were performed for soft tissue impingement between April 2007 and April 2009. There were 26 men and 15 women and the mean age was 30.1 years. Arthroscopy was performed on an average of 21 months after injury. The Visual-Analogue-Scale Foot and Ankle (VASFA) score and Meislin’s criteria were used to assess the response to treatment.
Results
The mean pre-operative VASFA score was 44.5. This increased to 78.3 postoperatively (p < 0.0001). According to Meislin’s criteria, there were 34 good or excellent results, five fair and two poor results. Pre-operative magnetic resonance imaging was useful in detecting tears of the anterior talofibular ligament and excluding osteochondral defects; however, synovitis and soft tissue impingement was under-reported.
Conclusions
Arthroscopy is an effective method for the diagnoses and treatment of soft tissue impingement of the ankle joint. This condition is under-reported on MRI.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ferkel RD, Karzel RP, Del Pizzo W, Friedman MJ, Fischer SP (1991) Arthroscopic treatment of anterolateral impingement of the ankle. Am J Sports Med 19:440–446
Kim SH, Ha KI (2000) Arthroscopic treatment for impingement of the anterolateral soft tissues of the ankle. J Bone Joint Surg Br 82-B:1019–1021
Molloy S, Solan MC, Bendall SP (2003) Synovial impingement in the ankle: a new physical sign. J Bone Joint Surg Br 85-B:330–333
Richter M, Zech S, Geerling J, Frink M, Knobloch K, Krettek C (2006) A new foot and ankle outcome score: questionnaire based, subjective, visual-analogue-scale, validated and computerized. Foot Ankle Surg 12:191–199
Hassan AHM (2007) Treatment of anterolateral impingements of the ankle joint by arthroscopy. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 15:1150–1154
Meislin FJ, Rose DJ, Parisien JS, Springer S (1993) Arthroscopic treatment of synovial impingement of the ankle. Am J Sports Med 21:186–189
Liu SH, Raskin A, Osti L et al (1994) Arthroscopic treatment of anterolateral ankle impingement. Arthroscopy 10(2):215–218
Urguden M, Soyuncu Y, Ozdemir H, Sekban H, Akyildiz FF, Aydin AT (2005) Arthroscopic treatment of anterolateral soft tissue impingement of the ankle: evaluation of factors affecting outcome. Arthroscopy 21(3):317–322
Oae K, Takao M, Uchio Y, Ochi M (2010) Evaluation of anterior talofibular ligament injury with stress radiography, ultrasonography and MR imaging. Skeletal Radiol 39(1):41–47
Huh YM, Suh JS, Lee JW, Song HT (2004) Synovitis and soft tissue impingement of the ankle: assessment with enhanced three-dimensional FSPGR MR imaging. J Magn Reson Imaging 19(1):108–116
Steinstra JJ (1994) Intra-articular soft-tissue masses of the ankle. Meniscoid lesions and transarticular fibrous bands. Clin Podiatr Med Surg 11(3):371–383
Wolin I, Glassman F, Sideman F, Levinthal DH (1950) Internal derangement of talofibular component of the ankle. Surg Gynaecol Obstet 91:193–200
Golano P, Vega J, Perez-Carro L, Gotzens V (2006) Ankle anatomy for the arthroscopist: part 1: the portals. Foot Ankle Clin 11:253–273
Ferkel RD, Heath DD, Guhl JF (1996) Neurological complications of ankle arthroscopy. Arthroscopy 12:200–208
Van Dijk CN, van Bergen CJA (2008) Advancements in ankle arthroscopy. J Am Acad Orthop Surg 16:635–646
Conflict of interest
None.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Brennan, S.A., Rahim, F., Dowling, J. et al. Arthroscopic debridement for soft tissue ankle impingement. Ir J Med Sci 181, 253–256 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-011-0749-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-011-0749-6