[Chronic fibular ligament insufficiency at the upper ankle joint. Late results after modified Watson-Jones plastic...

The findings at clinical and roentgenological follow-up examination of 44 patients are reported to illustrate the long-term results of a modified Watson-Jones technique up to 90 months after the operation. The clinical results (86.3% of the patients without complaints and 88.6% with subjective stability of the ligaments) correspond with those given by a variety of sources in the literature. The roentgenological examination, on the other hand, showed signs of grade I or II arthrosis (Bargon scale) in 61.3% of cases, and arthrosis was worse than before the operation in nearly all cases. The patients in the group, that had received more conservative treatment with an average 6.3 years between lesion and surgical treatment (group 1), had the highest incidence of arthrosis, with 73.6%. In 10 cases the clinical examination revealed reduced supination and dorsiflexion attributable to the tenodesis effect associated with the Watson-Jones technique. In view of the high rate of arthrosis, younger patients and patients with a short tendon part of the peroneus brevis muscle should be treated by another, more "physiological" method.