A Randomized Controlled Trial Investigating the Effects of a 4-Week Ankle Rehabilitation Program on High School Athletes with Chronic Ankle Instability

BACKGROUND: Lower extremity injuries are a huge health burden in the United States with ankle sprains being one of the most common. Chronic ankle Instability (CAI) is an issue that can arise secondary to a moderate ankle sprain if appropriate treatment is not obtained. Various rehabilitation exercises have been used to reduce residual symptoms and decreased function that are associated with CAI. Research has shown that resistance band and Biomechanical Ankle Platform System (BAPS) board programs are effective; however, utilizing both exercises together has not been evaluated in the adolescent population. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine which type of rehabilitation program is most effective for improving measures of static balance, functional performance and self-reported levels of function in adolescent patients with CAI. METHODOLOGY: Active adolescent patients (n=43) aged 15-18 years were recruited for this study. Three static balance tests (Balance Error Scoring System (BESS) test, Time in Balance test and Foot-lift test), three functional performance tests (Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT), Side-hop test and Figure-of-8 Hopping test) and four self-reported patient questionnaires (Foot and Ankle Ability Measure (FAAM), Ankle Instability Instrument (AII), Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool (CAIT) and the Identification of Functional Ankle Instability (IdFAI)) were administered to evaluate the effects of three different 4-week rehabilitation programs. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Separate mixed model ANOVAs (a priori α≤0.05), and Tukey’s post-hoc for significant interactions were used for analysis. RESULTS: Significant time effects were found for the majority of the dependent variables (p0.05). CONCLUSIONS: From this study, we determined that all three of the rehabilitation interventions significantly improved most dependent variables over time. There was not enough evidence to support one intervention being more beneficial over another. This study offers insight regarding effectiveness of treatment for active adolescent suffering from CAI. It suggests three easily administered rehabilitation interventions that show improvement in both static and functional balance in only four weeks. This study offers a step in the right direction for tailoring rehabilitation programs for each individual patient