The effectiveness of lateral ankle ligament reconstruction when treating chronic ankle instability: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Chronic ankle instability predominantly occurs due to multiple exercise-related diseases. Conservative treatment methods regarding this condition have not effectively improved in recent years, which is why more focus has been put on exploring different novel reconstruction procedures of the lateral ankle ligament for the treatment of chronic ankle instability. Objectives This study aims to obtain the overall effectiveness of various lateral ankle ligament reconstruction methods for chronic ankle ligament instability. Methods We gathered data from PubMed and EMBASE databases using the keywords: ankle, malleolar, and reconstruction. Newcastle - Ottawa quality assessment was carried out for the obtained studies; effect volume combination and image drawing were performed by Stata14, and Excel was used for data statistics. Results A total of 12 articles were included in the quantitative analysis by performing full-text reading and data inclusion. Among them, 476 patients (485 ankle joints) were treated. The results showed that the overall valid efficiency of “excellent” was 59% and “good” lateral ligament reconstruction was 26%, I2=87.3%, P=0.000; the subgroup analysis anatomic reconstruction group I2=0.0%, P=0.993; the autograft group I2=0.0%, P=1.000; allograft group I2=0.0%, P=0.993. Conclusion Reconstruction of the lateral ankle ligament is a relatively stable treatment for chronic ankle instability.