Long-term patient-oriented outcome study of a modified Evans procedure

More than 50 surgical procedures have been described for treatment of chronic lateral ankle instability. Anatomic repairs have come into favor in the recent literature based on short-term studies, which have used objective measures for outcome. A long-term (range, 7-20 years; average, 12.6) patient-oriented outcome analysis was performed on 20 patients that underwent a modified Evans procedure for chronic lateral ankle instability by the senior author over a 13-year period. There was a 91% follow-up on all located patients (20 of 22). All patients had mechanical and functional instability, and all had failed conservative therapy. A questionnaire, based on the outcomes questionnaire developed by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons was used to determine functional stability. The patient's ability to perform recreational or competitive sporting activities at specific time intervals were also assessed (preinjury, 1 year postoperatively, present time). Overall result was considered satisfactory if five criteria were met: patents (a) were happy with the outcome of surgery, (b) were able to perform desired level of activities, (c) had functional stability, (d) were pain free performing desired level activities, (e) would undergo procedure again. The entire cohort demonstrated satisfactory results in 19 (95%) of 20 respondents at 1 year and 17 (85%) at present time. Grouping patients into competitive (12 cases) and recreational (eight cases) athletes demonstrated six of 12, and seven of eight reached their preinjury level (p = 0.074). In this study, we showed that surgical reconstruction using a modified Evans procedure is a reliable and effective treatment for chronic lateral instability. This procedure has proved to stand the test of time, as demonstrated by a patient-oriented outcome analysis. The elite athlete may be better served by a procedure using the principles of anatomic rather than augmented repair; however, the long-term data to our knowledge has yet to be published.