Ankle Injuries and the Cervical Ligament

Injuries in the region of the ankle joint are commonly encountered in clinical practice. The patient often presents with a history of inversion sprain of the ankle, resulting in symptoms of pain and discomfort. This sort of injury is often seen in sports injuries and is relatively commonly seen in the general clinical practice in other patient populations. Initial diagnoses are based in the belief that it is one of the three well known lateral ligaments of the ankle which are weaker and therefore become injured; most commonly the anterior talo-fibular ligament is implicated. However the cervical ligament of the neck of the talus is often overlooked in differential diagnoses, which if ignored may leave the patient with an inherently weak lateral ankle and prone to recurring injury.