Conservative Management for Stable High Ankle Injuries in Professional Football Players. (January 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Knapik, Derrick M.; Trem, Anthony; Sheehan, Joseph; Salata, Michael J.; Voos, James E.
• Is Part Of: Sports health. Volume 10:Number 1(2018:Jan./Feb.)
• Page Start: 80
• Page End: 84
• Publication Date: 2018-01
• Subjects: football -- syndesmosis -- high ankle -- rehabilitation -- ankle; Sports medicine -- Periodicals; Athletic Injuries -- Periodicals; Physical Education and Training -- Periodicals; Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena -- Periodicals; Médecine du sport -- Périodiques; 617.1027
• DOI: 10.1177/1941738117720639
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1941-7381

Abstract

Context: High ankle "syndesmosis" injuries are common in American football players relative to the general population. At the professional level, syndesmotic sprains represent a challenging and unique injury lacking a standardized rehabilitation protocol during conservative management. Evidence Acquisition: PubMed, Biosis Preview, SPORTDiscus, PEDro, and EMBASE databases were searched using the terms syndesmotic injuries, American football, conservative management, and rehabilitation . Study Design: Clinical review. Level of Evidence: Level 3. Results: When compared with lateral ankle sprains, syndesmosis injuries result in significantly prolonged recovery times and games lost. For stable syndesmotic injuries, conservative management features a brief period of immobilization and protected weightbearing followed by progressive strengthening exercises and running, and athletes can expect to return to competition in 2 to 6 weeks. Further research investigating the efficacy of dry needling and blood flow restriction therapy is necessary to evaluate the benefit of these techniques in the rehabilitation process. Conclusion: Successful conservative management of stable syndesmotic injuries in professional American football athletes requires a thorough understanding of the anatomy, injury mechanisms, diagnosis, and rehabilitation strategies utilized in elite athletes.