Young footballer treated for Posterior Ankle Injury at Indian Spinal Injuries Centre

A budding footballer who dreamt of making the sport his career, 19-year-old Shubham was waylaid by a recurring and excessive pain on the back side of his ankle, which threatened to ruin his career. When the pain started affecting his sport, a worried Shubham rushed to the Indian Spinal Injuries Centre’s Sports Injury Department.

Thanks to the timely and prudent surgical intervention by sports medicine specialists at ISIC, the young athlete is all set to return to the playing field, a prospect that was seriously thereated for almost a year.

The footballer’s trouble began when he started suffering pain in the posterior of his ankle, a pain that aggravated by running and kicking football. The condition persisted for almost an year during which he visited many orthopedic surgeons in the city but did not get any relief.

At ISIC, a team of orthopedic and sports medicine specialists led by Dr Maninder Shah Singh and Dr Jayant Kumar examined his condition. The patient was finally diagnosed as a case of posterior ankle impingement syndrome.

“Pain in the back side of ankle in sports professionals like footballers, horizontal distance jumpers and dancers can be due to many causes and poses a diagnostic challenge. Such pain markedly affects the performance of the player and if not addressed properly could even destroy a career. Unfortunately, due to lack of effective sports medicine specialists across the country, a number of promising athletes who suffer such injuries fail to get appropriate medical attention, and end up with ruined careers,” says Dr Maninder Shah Singh, Foot & Ankle Specialist.

At ISIC, the patient was investigated thoroughly and finally diagnosed as a case of posterior ankle impingement syndrome. Explaining this condition Dr Jayant Kumar, Consultant Sports Medicine says, “this is a condition in which bone overgrowth on the back side of your ankle affects certain movements like those involving downward movement of the ankle. This is witnessed in footballers when they consistently kick the football or in en pointe position in ballet dancers. It hurts a lot and can affect the athlete's performance.”

The healing regimen began with a trial of conservative treatment for 3 months which included use of physiotherapy modalities, oral anti inflammatory medications and exercises. The patient however was not getting satisfactory results with the conservative trial of treatment as the pain used to recur with sprinting and kicking football. The patient was then counseled and provided information of operations by using advanced techniques of arthroscopy (key hole surgery) in order to improve his condition.

Traditionally, ankle arthroscopy is performed using anterior (frontal) portals with the patient in the supine position. However, posterior (back side) arthoscopy has advantages especially for lesions situated at the back of the ankle. This is a rarely performed surgery requiring special training and skills which is available in very few centres in India. This surgery is done using 2 skin cuts less than 1 cm each at the back of the ankle. First a camera is introduced through the cut and then specialised instruments are introduced to treat the problem. Introducing arthroscopic equipment into the posterioraspect of the ankle saves gross injury to the neurovascular structures of the ankle and this results in better recovery as compared to open surgery.

The surgery was successfully performed by Dr Jayant Kumar and Dr Maninder Shah Singh. Post surgery the patient started walking on the 2nd day itself and was discharged immediately. Rehabilitation began with the help of the efficient sports physiotherapists of the sports rehab team of ISIC Arthroscopy and Sports injury department. These experts ensure that patients receive excellent post surgery rehab and are able to return to their respective sports while performing incredibly. It is notable that post surgery rehab is very crucial to a successful recovery not just in cases of sportspersons but also in general orthopedic surgeries. Shubham, the current patient is recovering comfortably and is highly satisfied with his treatment.

“One year back I had almost given up hope of being able to revive my career when multiple consultations across Delhi failed to provide any relief to me. However, after the surgery at ISIC, I feel better each day. I have started exercising and warming up and I am hopeful that I will hit field very soon back to my kicking ways,” says a delighted Shubham.