Welcome to the Podiatry Arena forums

You are currently viewing our podiatry forum as a guest which gives you limited access to view all podiatry discussions and access our other features. By joining our free global community of Podiatrists and other interested foot health care professionals you will have access to post podiatry topics (answer and ask questions), communicate privately with other members, upload content, view attachments, receive a weekly email update of new discussions, access other special features. Registered users do not get displayed the advertisements in posted messages. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our global Podiatry community today!

  1. Have you considered the Clinical Biomechanics Boot Camp Online, for taking it to the next level? See here for more.
    Dismiss Notice
Dismiss Notice
Have you considered the Clinical Biomechanics Boot Camp Online, for taking it to the next level? See here for more.
Dismiss Notice
Have you liked us on Facebook to get our updates? Please do. Click here for our Facebook page.
Dismiss Notice
Do you get the weekly newsletter that Podiatry Arena sends out to update everybody? If not, click here to organise this.

Anterior ankle impingement

Discussion in 'Biomechanics, Sports and Foot orthoses' started by LCG, May 29, 2005.

  1. LCG

    LCG Active Member


    Members do not see these Ads. Sign Up.
    I have been managing a patient with chronic anterior ankle pain following an inversion sprain 6 months again. The trauma was diagnosed as a grade 2 ATF tear by her physio and appropriate management and rehabilitation was conducted.
    Her anterior ankle pain developed approx 3 months after the incident. There is no swelling, joint ROM is normal and pain is very difficult to reproduce in a clinical setting. X rays and CTs are negative. No MRI studies have been conducted at this stage. I have initiated a 6 week period of below knee cam walker wear but am sceptical as to wether this will reduce her pain enough to allow her to return to triathlon training.I would be interested to hear thoughts regarding conservative and surgical management to simialar anterior impingement/ bassett impingement problems.
    Luke Grainger
     
  2. Atlas

    Atlas Well-Known Member


    For anterior ankle impingement to exist, there must be some (albeit minor) deficit in ROM. Re-check the ankle dorsi-flexion lunge test. If it has identical ROM to the contra-lateral ankle (which I doubt), then surely, the patient should perceive anterior symptoms with the test (compared with the physiological achilles stretch on the 'good' ankle).

    Once you have found the specific joint (obstruction) limitation, or the specific pain provocative test, then we can discuss the plethora of conservative options that the clinician has in dealing with anterior ankle impingement.

    If you can't find the limitation or provocation test, then you must clear other DDx's that can contribute to 'anterior ankle pain' but are not necessarily impingement/compressive pathologies. Such as anterior ankle tendinopathy (foot/toe dorsi-flexors) that xray/CT may not highlight. You should be able to clear these with resistance testing etc.



    My advice is to go back to the lunge test, and ask WHERE the patient feels the end-range restriction. If an impingement exists on the 'bad' ankle, the patient will point anterior; compared to the achilles stretch perceieved on the 'good' one.
     
  3. Atlas

    Atlas Well-Known Member

    BTW, you should be commended for bringing 'ankle impingement' into the arena. This is not well understood and often missed, and then we wonder why months of proprioception and strengthening exercises dont work with some/many.

    IMO, the impingement is the cake, and the often over-prescribed over-used exercises are the icing.

    Moreover, simple mechancal principles underpin impingement pathology. When it is understood by more foot/ankle clinicians, suddenly complex ankle conditions will not be so complex anymore.
     
  4. The patient may have a high ankle sprain. They eventually heal, but they take a very long time.

    BTW, it is possible to suffer anterior impingement subsequent to a signifiicant anterior ankle sprain without preexisting ROM deficit. The talus has to have displaced forward enough to prevent adequate posterior glide in the mortise on dorsiflexion. Does the ankle hurt on stair descent? Do you have a reliable method to check both accessory roms (distal tib-fib mobility, anterior, and posterior dispalcement of the talus), as well as a quantifiable way to check gastroc-obviated talar dorsiflexion? You need these technics to diagnose and treat anterior impingement.
     
  5. LCG

    LCG Active Member

    Some interesting points. Just a quick update as to what is happening. MRI scans were ordered by her GP this week and results are pending. Lunge testing was conducted and was within normal limits. With regards to the talar displacement i question wether this would be visible in her CT investigations. From my observations her talar position in the CT scans appears normal when compared to her other ankle. I will keep you informed of her MRI results
    Regards
    Luke
     
  6. Ian Linane

    Ian Linane Well-Known Member

    Hi

    If there is no obvious physical cause has anyone explored tissue memory or mind memory (not brain) as a store for the trauma of the incident.

    I had a lady who broke her fibula. 12 months later there was still some residual pain but, significantly, a noticable limp on the affected side. All else seemed to be OK. Being a family friend I suggested letting me treat her, without explanation of the treatment until it was over. She was OK with this so we went ahead. The treatment only lasted 45 seconds. Her gait immediately after the treatment was normal with improved leg swing, base and angle of gait and arm swing.

    Simply a suggestion.

    Ian
     
  7. Mark Gilheany

    Mark Gilheany Welcome New Poster

    Hi Luke

    I have seen several cases such as these where the pain eventually turned out to be impingement at the distal end of the tibial/fibular ligament (post injury scarring). After failure of conservative treatment relatively simple surgery to excise the soft tissue impingement has worked well in each case. My preference is open ankle approach rather than arethrosopic in these circumstances. You can often see the anomalie on MRI.

    Regards Mark
     
  8. pgcarter

    pgcarter Well-Known Member

    What about trying to bind/compress tib and fib distally in the transverse plane in order to see if pain decreases in use...get some expansion stress off structures posed by Mark?
    Regards Phill
     
  9. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    Anterior impingement syndrome in dancers
    John William O’Kane and Nancy Kadel
    Current Reviews in Musculoskeletal Medicine
    Link
     
  10. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    Potential role of multislice SPECT/CT in impingement syndrome and soft-tissue pathology of the ankle and foot.
    Chicklore S, Gnanasegaran G, Vijayanathan S, Fogelman I.
    Nucl Med Commun. 2012 Nov 30. [Epub ahead of print]
     
  11. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    TREATMENT OF ANKLE IMPINGEMENT SYNDROMES IN ATHLETES
    Panagiotis Intzirtis, Georgios Tsikouris, Emmanouil Zampiakis, Sotirios Plessas, Loukas Taprantzis, Panayiotis Kourougenis, Dimitrios Tsikouris, Lefteris Tsikouris
    Br J Sports Med 2013;47:e3
     
  12. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    Arthroscopic Treatment of Anterior Ankle Impingement: A Prospective Study of 46 Patients With 5-Year Follow-up.
    Walsh SJ, Twaddle BC, Rosenfeldt MP, Boyle MJ.
    Am J Sports Med. 2014 Sep 26.
     
  13. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    Effect of Obesity on Arthroscopic Treatment of Anterolateral Impingement Syndrome of the Ankle
    Mohsen Mardani-Kivi, MD, Ahmadreza Mirbolook, MDemail, Mahmoud Karimi Mobarakeh, MD, Sina Khajeh Jahromi, MD, Rasool Hassanzadeh, MD
    The Journal of Foot and Ankle Surgery; Articles in Press
     
  14. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
  15. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    Arthroscopic Treatment and Prognostic Classification of Anterior Soft Tissue Impingement of the Ankle
    Roberto Buda et al
    Foot & Ankle International November 26, 2015
     
  16. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    Effect of preoperative anterior bony impingement on lateral collateral ankle ligament reconstruction
    Q R Li et al
    Zhonghua Yi Xue Za Zhi. 2023 Mar 21;103(11):803-808
     
  17. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    Relationship between the morphology of osteophytes and cartilage lesions in anterior ankle impingement in athletes: a cross-sectional study
    Hiroki Yabiku, Tomohiro Matsui, Takeshi Sugimoto, Yasuyoshi Mase, Kotaro Higa, Fuminari Uehara, Takashi Toma, Chinatsu Azuma, Yasunori Tome, Kotaro Nishida & Tsukasa Kumai
    Journal of Foot and Ankle Research volume 16, Article number: 31 (2023)
     
  18. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    Can ultrasound replace MRI in diagnosing causes of ankle impingement in different compartments?
    Nour Mohamed Kandil, Mohamed Abd El Fattah Hassan, Ashraf Nehad Moharram, Omnia Abd El Fattah Hammad Saleh & Aya Bassam Hashem
    Source
     
  19. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    Anterior Ankle Impingement Syndrome With Spur Fragmentation: Is It an Os Talotibiale?
    Kazuya Sugimoto et al
    Foot Ankle Orthop. 2024 Jan 28;9(1)
     
  20. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    Characteristics and Outcomes of Surgical Treatment for Anterolateral Ankle Impingement Due to the Distal Fascicle of the Anterior Inferior Tibiofibular Ligament
    Ho Dong Na et al
    Orthop J Sports Med. 2024 Oct 15;12(10):23259671241275959
     
  21. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    Surgical Management of Complex Ankle Bony Impingement Combined With Chronic Ankle Instability
    Lu Bai et al
    Orthop J Sports Med. 2024 Oct 24;12(10):23259671241270309.
     
Loading...

Share This Page