Arthroscopic treatment of synovial impingement of the ankle

Abstract

Twenty-nine cases of operative arthroscopy of the an kle were done between 1985 and 1989 for synovial impingement of the ankle. The average age of the patients was 37 years. All patients (17 men, 12 women) reported an earlier history of injury, with 24 of the patients (83%) noting chronic ankle pain after an inver sion injury and 5 of the patients (17%) reporting a previous ankle fracture. Physical examination elicited anterolateral tenderness at the ankle in all cases with associated anteromedial pain in 4 patients. A demon strable "click" was evident in 6 of the patients (21 %) on forced dorsiflexion of the ankle. All patients failed conservative treatment including physical therapy and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs. Surgery was performed at an average of 36 months postinjury. Ankle arthroscopy revealed exten sive hypertrophic synovial thickening and scar tissue anterolaterally, indicating synovial impingement in all patients. Associated chondromalacia of the distal tibia was seen in 21 % of the patients. Operative arthroscopy included partial synovectomy and debridement of the hypertrophic tissue and partial shaving chondroplasty of the tibia when indicated. Postoperatively, patients were weightbearing as tolerated. Results were as sessed subjectively and objectively. At 25-month followup 26 patients had excellent or good results and 3 had fair results; there were no poor results. There were no major complications, including infection or neurovascular compromise. The 3 patients with associated ankle instability comprised the "fair" result group and eventually required lateral ankle recon struction. Thus, chronic ankle pain due to synovial impingement can be safely, predictably, and effectively treated by operative ankle arthroscopy.