REVIEW ARTICLE


Distal Tibiofibular Syndesmosis: Anatomy, Biomechanics, Injury and Management



Chi Pan Yuen1, *, Tun Hing Lui2
1 Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
2 Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, North District Hospital, 9 Po Kin Road, Sheung Shui, NT, Hong Kong, China


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Creative Commons License
© 2017 Yuen and Lui.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, Tel: 97702898; E-mail: simoncpyuen@gmail.com


Abstract

A stable and precise articulation of the distal tibiofibular syndesmosis is essential for normal motion of the ankle joint. Injury to the syndesmosis occurs through rupture or bony avulsion of the syndesmotic ligament complex. External rotation of the talus has been identified as the major mechanism of syndesmotic injury. None of the syndesmotic stress tests was sensitive or specific; therefore the diagnosis of syndesmotic injury should not be made based on the medical history and physical examination alone. With the improvement in ankle arthroscopic technique, it can be used as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool in the management of distal tibiofibular syndesmosis injury.

Keywords: Distal tibiofibular syndesmosis, Anatomy, Biomechanics, Injury, Ankle joint, Ligament complex, Function, Ankle arthroscopy.