ArticleBritish journal of sports medicine2020
Return to play after surgery for isolated unstable syndesmotic ankle injuries (West Point grade IIB and III) in 110 male professional football players: a retrospective cohort study.
Article in British journal of sports medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 66 citations in OpenAlex.
- Return-to-sport rate and time in elite athletes after ankle syndesmosis injuries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Fear of reinjury is associated with failure to return to preinjury level of activity after operative repair of ankle fractures.OTA international : the open access journal of orthopaedic trauma · 2026Article
- Midterm Outcomes After Suture Button Fixation for Arthroscopically Confirmed Concomitant Syndesmotic Instability in Chronic Lateral Ankle Instability: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2026Article
- Weber Classification Does Not Correlate with PROMIS Outcome Measures.Foot & ankle orthopaedics · 2026Article
- Return-to-Sport Outcomes After Suture Button Fixation for Syndesmotic Injury in Elite Athletes With Chronic Lateral Ankle Instability: A Prospective Case Series.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2026Article
- The Ankle-GO™ score predicts return to sport after surgically treated unstable syndesmotic injuries.Journal of experimental orthopaedics · 2026Article
- Time to return to sports in football players recovering from lower limb soft tissue injuries: a systematic review with meta-analysis.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2026Article
- Decision-Making and Management of Acute Isolated Syndesmosis Injuries in Athletes.The Iowa orthopaedic journal · 2026Review
- Full Return to Sport in All Athletes After Suture-Button Fixation for Syndesmotic Injuries; However, Faster Recovery Was Seen in National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Players Compared with National Football League Players.Arthroscopy, sports medicine, and rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Establishing 'normal' career longevity in professional footballers allows comparison to that of players with injuries and surgery.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2025Article
- The Application of a Return-to-Performance Pathway for an International Soccer Player Recovering From Ankle Syndesmosis Stabilization in Time for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. A Case Report.Journal of athletic training · 2025Article
- The Contralateral Ankle Joint Is a Reliable Reference for Testing Syndesmotic Stability Using Bilateral External Torque CT.Foot & ankle international · 2024Article
- A 3-Ligament Syndesmotic Injury Is at Higher Risk for Malreduction Than a 2-Ligament Injury: A CT-Based Analysis.Foot & ankle international · 2024Article
- A systematic review of studies on the diagnostics and classification system used in surgically treated, acute, isolated, unstable syndesmotic injury: a plea for uniform definition of syndesmotic injuries.EFORT open reviews · 2024Article
- Fifteen out of 16 elite athletes showed concomitant low-grade cartilage lesions of the ankle with unstable syndesmotic injuries: concerns from a prospective case series.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2024Article
- Association of Periprosthetic Fibula Fracture With Knotless Suture Button (TightRope) Fixation for Ankle Syndesmosis in Elite Athletes.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2023Article
- Augmented stress weightbearing CT for evaluation of subtle tibiofibular syndesmotic injuries in the elite athlete.Skeletal radiology · 2023Article
- Epidemiological Characteristics of Foot and Ankle Injuries in 2 Professional Ballet Companies: A 3-Season Cohort Study of 588 Medical Attention Injuries and 255 Time-Loss Injuries.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2023Article
- Comparison of Treatment Methods for Syndesmotic Injuries With Posterior Tibiofibular Ligament Ruptures: A Cadaveric Biomechanical Study.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo evaluate time to return to play following surgical stabilisation of isolated unstable syndesmosis injuries in a cohort of professional male football players.
methodsAll professional football players undergoing surgery for isolated unstable syndesmosis injury (West Point grade ≥IIB) at a specialised Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital were followed up until return to play (minimum ≥6 months). Players with a stable syndesmosis, injuries older than 6 weeks, concomitant medial or lateral malleolar fracture or previous ankle surgery were excluded. During rehabilitation, time required to return to sports-specific rehabilitation, team training and first match play, were recorded.
resultsBetween January 2012 and December 2017, a total of 110 male professional football players were included. The mean time required to begin on field rehabilitation was 37±12 days, while the mean time to return to team training was 72±28 days. The first official match was played on average 103±28 days postoperatively. Multivariable analysis revealed that the severity of injury, the concomitant presence of talar cartilage injury and the age of the player were significantly associated (p<0.00001) with time to return to on field rehabilitation, team training and match play.
conclusionIn this cohort of professional football players, surgical stabilisation of isolated unstable syndesmosis injuries (West Point grade ≥IIB) allowed for relatively quick return to play. High grade injury (West Point grade III), concomitant cartilage injury and greater age were associated with longer return to play times. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Longitudinal observational cohort study (level II).
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