External Rotation Ankle Injuries: Investigating Ligamentous Rupture

Ankle sprains are one of the most common sports injuries [1], accounting for 10% to 15% of these injuries [2]. The severity of injury varies greatly and the player’s recovery time is related to the structures involved and their degree of damage. In contrast to the soft tissue injuries reported in many clinical studies on the ankle, experimental studies have typically generated a high frequency of bone fracture when the foot/ankle complex is externally rotated [3–5]. In a majority of these manuscripts, the cadaveric test specimens are of advanced or unknown age. These variables may substantially affect both the failure load and the mode of failure in the joint, since most ankle sprains occur in people under the age of 35 years [6].