Incidence of (Osteo)Chondral Lesions Concomitant to Chronic Lateral Ankle Instability: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Category: Ankle Introduction/Purpose: To determine the incidence of (osteo)chondral lesions ((O)CLs) in patients with chronic lateral ankle instability (CLAI). Methods: A literature search was conducted in PubMed (MEDLINE), EMBASE (Ovid), and the Cochrane Library databases for articles published from January 2000 until December 2020. Two authors independently screened the search results and conducted the quality assessment using the MINORS criteria. Clinical studies that reported findings on (O)CLs of the ankle as per preoperative or intraoperative diagnostic measures in patients with CLAI (> 6 months of symptoms) were included. Chondral and osteochondral lesions were analyzed altogether for the primary outcome, namely, the incidence of (O)CLs in ankles with CLAI. Additionally, a subgroup analysis for the incidence of (O)CLs located on the talus. Secondary outcomes included the study-, patient, and lesion characteristics. Lesions characteristics included lesion localization and chondral- or osteochondral involvement. A random-effects model with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) was used to analyze the primary outcome and subgroup analysis. Secondary outcomes were pooled using a simplified pooling method. Results: 12 studies with a total of 2145 patients with 2170 ankles with CLAI were included. The overall pooled incidence of (O)CLs in ankles with CLAI was 32.2% (95% CI 22.7 - 41.7). The pooled incidence of talar (O)CLs was 26.5% (95% CI 19.0 - 34.0). Overall the most common location of OCLs in patients with CLAI is the talus with 85%, of which 68% of (O)CLs are located on the medial talus and 32% are located laterally. 43% of lesions were chondral lesions and 57% of lesions were osteochondral in nature. Conclusion: (O)CLs were found in up to 32% of ankles with CLAI. Furthermore, most lesions are located on the medial talar dome. These findings will aid physicians in the early recognition and treatment of ankle (O)CLs in the context of CLAI.