Ruptured anterior talofibular ligament: a simplified procedure for late repair

The author has described a simplified procedure for late repair of a ruptured anterior talofibular ligament. This procedure has been utilized in 14 patients (20 feet) and all results have been good. Complications have included 1) restriction of motion (inversion) at the ankle joint (two cases, probably resulting from overly short grafts); 2) chronic edema, exceeding 4 months (three cases, probably resulting from poor subcutaneous closure of tissue planes); and 3) failure to correct presenting complaint (one case, most likely resulting from spontaneous rupture of graft). The remaining 14 feet have all functioned well with proper biomechanical control from the shortest follow-up of 11 months through the longest follow-up of 3 years.