Chen RP, Wang QH, Li MY, Su XF, Wang DY, Liu XH, Li ZL. Progress in diagnosis and treatment of acute injury to the anterior talofibular ligament. World J Clin Cases 2023; 11(15): 3395-3407 [PMID: 37383912 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i15.3395]
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Cases. May 26, 2023; 11(15): 3395-3407 Published online May 26, 2023. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i15.3395
Progress in diagnosis and treatment of acute injury to the anterior talofibular ligament
Run-Peng Chen, Qing-Hua Wang, Ming-Yue Li, Xiao-Fang Su, Dong-Yang Wang, Xing-Hui Liu, Zhi-Li Li
Run-Peng Chen, Qing-Hua Wang, Ming-Yue Li, Xiao-Fang Su, Dong-Yang Wang, School of Nursing, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai 264003, Shandong Province, China
Xing-Hui Liu, Zhi-Li Li, Department of Office, Shandong Vheng Data Technology Co., Ltd, Yantai 264003, Shandong Province, China
Author contributions: Chen RP and Wang QH contribute equally to this work; Chen RP, Wang QH, and Wang DY performed most of the writing; Li MY, Su XF, Liu XH, and Li ZL performed data accusation and manuscript writing and prepared the figures and tables; Chen RP designed the outline and coordinated the writing of the paper; Chen RP and Wang DY contributed to the conception of the study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Received: December 30, 2022 Peer-review started: December 30, 2022 First decision: February 28, 2023 Revised: March 7, 2023 Accepted: April 14, 2023 Article in press: April 14, 2023 Published online: May 26, 2023
Abstract
Injury to the anterior talofibular ligament (ATFL) is a common acute injury of the lateral foot ligament. Untimely and improper treatment significantly affects the quality of life and rehabilitation progress of patients. The purpose of this paper is to review the anatomy and the current methods of diagnosis and treatment of acute injury to the ATFL. The clinical manifestations of acute injury to the ATFL include pain, swelling, and dysfunction. At present, non-surgical treatment is the first choice for acute injury of the ATFL. The standard treatment strategy involves the “peace and love” principle. After initial treatment in the acute phase, personalized rehabilitation training programs can be followed. These may involve proprioception training, muscle training, and functional exercise to restore limb coordination and muscle strength. Static stretching and other techniques to loosen joints, acupuncture, moxibustion massage, and other traditional medical treatments can relieve pain, restore range of motion, and prevent joint stiffness. If the non-surgical treatment is not ideal or fails, surgical treatment is feasible. Currently, arthroscopic anatomical repair or anatomical reconstruction surgery is commonly used in clinical practice. Although open Broström surgery provides good results, the modified arthroscopic Broström surgery has many advantages, such as less trauma, rapid pain relief, rapid postoperative recovery, and fewer complications, and is more popular with patients. In general, when treating acute injury to the ATFL, treatment management and methods should be timely and reasonably arranged according to the specific injury scenario and attention should be paid to the timely combination of multiple therapies to achieve the best treatment results.
Core Tip: Anterior talofibular ligament injury is a common lateral ankle ligament sprain caused by mispositioning of the foot during landing and delayed gastrocnemius response time, resulting in pain, swelling, and impaired movement of the injury. It is necessary to diagnose and evaluate the injury degree of patients in a timely manner according to the imaging basis and develop individualized treatment and rehabilitation exercise programs to avoid delay in diagnosis and disease delay. After non-surgical treatment (conservative treatment, functional therapy, alternative therapy, and manual therapy) is ineffective, timely and reasonable surgical treatment should be selected for surgical treatment, so as to obtain positive therapeutic and rehabilitation effects.
