We report a retrospective study of 171 consecutive patients with a lateral ankle sprain. All the patients with direct or blunt force trauma were excluded. Within 21 days of injury, 115 (67.25%) patients had undergone magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate for more serious or significant injuries. The average patient age was 44.09 years. Of the 115 patients, 75 (65.23%) had findings noted to be "significant." MRI can serve as a valuable and underused tool in the evaluation of acute lateral ankle injuries. The underuse of MRI might explain the high degree of variability in patients recovering from a lateral ankle sprain.
Keywords: ankle sprain; bone contusion; fracture; osteochondral lesion; peroneal tendon; syndesmosis.
Copyright © 2017 American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.