Esin Özsahin; Sema Polat; Zafer Altun; Mahmut Tunç & Pinar Göker

It is suggested that there is a connection between the ankle and distal tibiofibular syndesmosis (DTS) and the possible differences in DTS morphology may be a reason of an instability. This study is aimed to assess the DTS morphology in patients with ankle sprains as radiologic and anatomic. In the study, MR images of 66 patients diagnosed with ankle sprain were compared with 66 healthy control group. Anterior facet length (AFL), posterior facet length (PFL), angle between anterior-posterior facet (APFA), incisura fibularis depth (IFD), tibia length (LT) and fibula length (LF) were measured from 1cm above the tibial plafond. In addition, DTS morphology was classified as chevron, widow's peak, flat, trapezoid, and crescent and it was examined whether it affected ankle sprain. Additionally, posterior tibiofibular ligament width (PTFLW) was examined. The mean age for the patientgroup (n= 66; 38 females and 28 males) was 36.55±10.82years, while the mean age for the control group (n=66; 41 females and 25 males) was 40.83±10.48years. In the control group, the means of the AFL, PFL, APFA, IFD, LT, LF, and PTFLW were found as 10.9±2.4 mm, 10.2±1.8 mm, 140.26±12.33 degree, 3.2±1.2 mm, 37.4±4.4 mm, 10.7±1.8 mm, and 5.4±1.0 mm, respectively while the same measurements were measured as 11.1±2.0 mm, 10.6±2.3 mm, 141.39±11.01degree, 3.2±1.1 mm, 38.5±3.6 mm, 11.1±2.0 mm and 5.4±1.0 mm in subjects having ankle sprains, respectively. The distribution of incisura fibularis morphology was observed to be mostly crescent type with 38 % in the patient group, followed by flat type with 19 %. In the control group, the most common type was flat type with 27 %, followed by crescent type with 24 %. This paper found that DTS morphology might be a risk factor for ankle sprains. Also, incisura morphology showed between healthy subjects and patients with ankle sprains. While crescent type is more common in normal individuals, shallow type is more common in patients with ankle sprains.

KEY WORDS: Ankle sprains; Distal tibiofibular syndesmosis; Morphology.

ÖZSAHIN, E.; POLAT, S.; ALTUN, Z.; TUNÇ, M. & GÖKER, P. Evaluation of distal tibiofibular syndesmosis morphology in ankle sprains. Int. J. Morphol., 43(1):14-120, 2025.