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World J Orthop. Jun 18, 2015; 6(5): 434-438
Published online Jun 18, 2015. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v6.i5.434
Neuromuscular control and rehabilitation of the unstable ankle
You-jou Hung
You-jou Hung, Department of Physical Therapy, Angelo State University, San Angelo, TX 76909, United States
Author contributions: Hung Y contributes to the entire manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest: No potential conflict-of-interest relevant to the manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: You-jou Hung, PT, MS, PhD, CSCS, Department of Physical Therapy, Angelo State University, 2601 W Ave N, San Angelo, TX 76909, United States. you-jou.hung@angelo.edu
Telephone: +1-325-9422742 Fax: +1-325-9422548
Received: February 20, 2015
Peer-review started: February 22, 2015
First decision: April 10, 2015
Revised: April 21, 2015
Accepted: May 8, 2015
Article in press: May 11, 2015
Published online: June 18, 2015
Abstract

Lateral ankle sprain is a common orthopedic injury with a very high recurrence rate in athletes. After decades of research, it is still unclear what contributes to the high recurrence rate of ankle sprain, and what is the most effective intervention to reduce the incident of initial and recurrent injuries. In addition, clinicians often implement balance training as part of the rehabilitation protocol in hopes of enhancing the neuromuscular control and proprioception of the ankle joint. However, there is no consensus on whether the neuromuscular control and proprioception are compromised in unstable ankles. To reduce the prevalence of ankle sprains, the effectiveness of engaging balance training to enhance the neuromuscular control and proprioception of the ankle joint is also questionable.

Keywords: Ankle, Proprioception, Neuromuscular control, Physical therapy, Rehabilitation

Core tip: Lateral ankle sprain is a common orthopedic injury with a high recurrence rate. However, there is no consensus on whether neuromuscular control and proprioception are compromised in unstable ankles, and whether proprioception training can reduce initial and recurrent ankle injuries. The purpose of this review is to discuss the etiology and intervention of initial and recurrent ankle sprains, focusing on the role of neuromuscular control and proprioception at the ankle joint. This review can provide clinicians the knowledge of constructing better examination protocols and rehabilitation programs for individuals with the unstable ankle.