Injury of Ankle Ligaments

Injury of the ankle ligaments is very common during sports participation. These injuries may result in mechanical and/or functional ankle instability, which if not treated properly might develop into chronic instability. Diagnosis is made through comprehensive medical history taking and manual testing, which may be complemented with imaging studies. Both conservative and surgical treatments have shown good results; however, when considering elite athletes, the surgical management is preferred. Several preventive strategies have emerged providing a cost-effective approach to reduce the risk of ankle ligament injury. Tibiofibular syndesmotic injuries should be treated conservatively when stable and surgically when unstable. Similarly, isolated superficial deltoid ligament injuries may be treated through a conservative approached, and, in case of insufficiency, the approach should be surgical. A rapid return to sports participation should be expected with a reasonable return to the pre-injury levels.