Purpose
To quantify the overall incidence of complications related to arthroscopic treatment
of anterolateral soft-tissue ankle impingement.
Methods
Electronic databases and relevant peer-reviewed sources, including OvidSP/Medline
(http://ovidsp.tx.ovid.com) and Google Scholar, were systematically searched for the terms “anterolateral” AND
“ankle” AND “impingement” OR “soft-tissue impingement” AND “arthroscopy.” In addition,
we manually searched common American and European (including British) orthopaedic
and podiatric scientific literature for relevant articles. Studies were eligible for
inclusion only if they included the following: a standard 2-portal anterior arthroscopic
approach, a minimum mean follow-up of 12 months, and detailed descriptions of all
complications encountered.
Results
After we considered all the potentially eligible articles, 15 (28.8%) met our inclusion
criteria for the study. There were a total of 396 patients (397 ankles), with 16 total
complications (4%), 3 (0.8%) of which were major. The weighted mean patient age was
31.2 years, and the weighted mean follow-up was 33.7 months.
Conclusions
The results of this systematic review showed an overall incidence of complications
of 4%. The complications were categorically divided into major and minor complications,
with a very low incidence of major complications (0.8%) and an acceptably low incidence
of minor complications (3.3%). On the basis of these findings, arthroscopic treatment
of anterolateral ankle soft-tissue impingement is a very safe procedure when indicated.
Level of Evidence
Level IV, systematic review of Level IV studies.
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 02, 2014
Accepted:
October 29,
2013
Received:
August 16,
2013
Footnotes
The authors report the following potential conflict of interest or source of funding: T.S.R. receives support from American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons: Board of Directors, Executive Committee, President-Elect. Stryker Orthopaedics.
Identification
Copyright
© 2014 Arthroscopy Association of North America. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
