ArticleBMC musculoskeletal disorders2025
Is it necessary to remove small fibular ossicles during an arthroscopic modified Broström operation for chronic lateral ankle instability?
Article in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- 2025 Chinese clinical practice consensus and guideline on chronic lateral ankle instability.International journal of surgery (London, England) · 2026Article
- Enhanced subfibular ossicle diagnosis: CT-MRI integration of morphology and ligament attachments.Insights into imaging · 2025Article
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4 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundAnkle sprains are the most frequent musculoskeletal injury in sports. Patients reporting pain at the lateral malleolus tip following ankle sprains or sports activities frequently have separated ossicles, referred to as an os subfibulare (OSF). Commonly, small ossicles accompanied by chronic lateral ankle instability (CLAI) are treated with ossicle resection combined with the modified Broström operation (MBO). We compared the clinical and radiological results between groups in which a small OSF was or was not removed.
methodsWe retrospectively enrolled all patients with a small OSF who underwent arthroscopic MBO by one surgeon in one institution between 2015 and 2022. The study included skeletally mature patients who had an OSF among those who had MBO surgery and follow-up for at least 1 year. An ossicle was defined as small if the longitudinal diameter was < 5 mm on an anteroposterior plain radiograph.
resultsThere were no significant differences between the groups preoperatively or 6 or 12 months postoperatively. The radiographic findings did not differ significantly between groups.
conclusionsWhen performing arthroscopic MBO on patients with CLAI, OSF ≤ 5 mm removal did not alter clinical or radiological outcomes, suggesting that excision may not be needed in asymptomatic patients. Considering the risks of the removal process, leaving it alone may be a treatment option. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.
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