Patient Question:Disease:Left ankle sprainDescription:Left ankle avulsion fracture. The MRI diagnosis is a rupture of the anterior talofibular ligament. Help wanted:Please tell me if surgery is needed. How to treat and recover. Peng Jianguang, Department of Orthopedics, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical UniversityReply:Hello, how long have you been injured now? What are the symptoms? What treatment have you had? Have the symptoms decreased or worsened? Patient question: It’s been more than a month. Symptoms have subsided. Can walk slowly. Comment: Patients should describe their symptoms in detail, including pain, swelling, joint instability and easily broken feet. Has the patient been treated with immobilization and braking? These are all important information. Reply by Peng Jianguang, Department of Orthopedics, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University.
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Not all avulsion fractures will have joint instability. However, if the joint instability occurs and does not improve with conservative treatment and rehabilitation exercises, surgery is needed. So the MRI is not the basis for treatment, but mainly your symptoms and signs. Patient Question: But I have a torn anterior talofibular ligament. There are two other ligaments that are not so good. So I’m worried. Does ligament rupture rehabilitation work? Reply from Peng Jianguang, Department of Orthopedics, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University: We treat patients with joint instability, not laminae. Most people can be cured if you play a cast or other methods of fixation after the injury and then do rehabilitation exercises. If you have joint instability that does not get better consistently, you may need surgery, which requires an in-person evaluation and examination.