Anterior impact in professional footballer’s ankles: radiographic evaluation

Abstract

Objective: To identify and quantify the main radiographic changes in soccer player’s ankles and demonstrate that these lesions can occur without symptoms, especially the anterior impact. Methods: We used a transversal cohort study, with the recruitment of participants occurring from May 2007 to August 2008. Results: Thirty-five athletes with mean age of 22,9 years old (standard deviation=5.4) and 13.1 years (standard deviation=4.9) of sports practice were evaluated. The most common radiographic finding was tibial osteophytes at the anterior portion of ankle joint (60%). Conclusion: Radiographic changes can occur in professional soccer player’s ankles even without symptoms, and the tibial osteophytes at the anterior portion of the ankle joint is the main alteration.