[Evidence for treatment of acute syndesmosis injuries in sports].

Injuries of the distal syndesmosis often accompany acute ankle sprains especially in professional team sports. While small partial syndesmosis lesions can often be missed as a consequence of impressive symptoms due to ventrolateral capsuloligamentous injuries, higher grade injuries of the syndesmosis can mostly be diagnosed without any problem. Furthermore, there is a consensus concerning the necessity of operative treatment in significantly unstable situations as well concerning conservative treatment of incomplete partial lesions. Consequently, the greatest challenge regarding diagnostic tools, quantification and optimal therapy arises in the most common form of sport-associated, complete or partial lesions of the distal syndesmosis. This review article summarizes sports-associated injuries of the distal tibiofibular syndesmosis considering the current literature and placing the emphasis on the anatomy, pathobiomechanics, diagnostics and therapy of syndesmosis lesions from an evidence-based viewpoint.