Endoscopic treatment of the posterior ankle impingement syndrome on amateur and professional athletes.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether professional and amateur athletes showed differences in ankle function when treated with endoscopic technique for posterior ankle impingement syndrome, to verify the impact of the presence of associated lesions in clinical evolution and to assess time to return to sport (we hypothesize that time will be the only difference between groups).


METHODS
Thirty-two athletes with a diagnosis of posterior impingement syndrome underwent surgery endoscopically. The American Orthopaedics Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) scale was used to compare functional results between amateur (15) and professional athletes (17). The satisfaction, time to return to sport, operative time, intraoperative findings and complications were evaluated, and the presence of associated injuries interfering in these results was verified.


RESULTS
The preoperative AOFAS score range for the professional group was 62.9 ± 14 preoperatively and 92.3 ± 7.7 postoperatively, and for the amateur group was 67.9 ± 19.7 and 94 ± 9.3. The satisfaction was excellent or good in 94 % of all cases and fair in 6%. The average time of surgery was 48.3 + 25 min. Bone involvement was present in 100% of cases and complications in three cases. Time to return to sports was similar (n.s.) in both groups, and the mean time was 15.6 ± 13.7 and 16.3 ± 9 weeks, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
No significant difference regarding functional results and time to return to sports between professionals and amateur athletes operated was found. Athletes showed mainly good and excellent results and low complication rate. The presence of associated injuries did not significantly influence the results. With these results, the high-level athlete can better programme their surgeries so they can fully recover and perform better in the most important competitions.


METHODS
Level III.
Foot and Ankle Division, Clinics Hospital, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil. mcmdinato@hotmail.com.|Instituto Vita, Rua Mato Grosso, 306 - 1o andar, Higienópolis, Sao Paulo, 01239-040, Brazil. mcmdinato@hotmail.com.|Ortopedia e Traumatologia, FCM-UNICAMP, Rua Tessália Vieira de Camargo, 126, Cidade Universitária, Campinas, SP, 13081-970, Brazil. mcmdinato@hotmail.com.
Mauro Cesar Mattos E
MC
Dinato
Instituto Vita, Rua Mato Grosso, 306 - 1o andar, Higienópolis, Sao Paulo, 01239-040, Brazil.
Isabela Ugo
IU
Luques
Instituto Vita, Rua Mato Grosso, 306 - 1o andar, Higienópolis, Sao Paulo, 01239-040, Brazil.
Marcio de Faria
Mde F
Freitas
Instituto Vita, Rua Mato Grosso, 306 - 1o andar, Higienópolis, Sao Paulo, 01239-040, Brazil.|Hospital do Servidor Publico Estadual de São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Miguel Viana
MV
Pereira Filho
Foot and Ankle Division, Clinics Hospital, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil.
André Felipe
AF
Ninomiya
Departament of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil.
Rodrigo Gonçalves
RG
Pagnano
Departament of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil.
Maurício
M
Etchebehere
D000328:Adult; D000843:Ankle Joint / Q000601:surgery*; D001182:Arthroscopy; D056352:Athletes; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007592:Joint Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D061646:Operative Time; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D000068958:Return to Sport
Ankle; Arthroscopy; Athletes; Endoscopy