Postural Control Measures After Lateral Ankle Sprain While Wearing Ankle Orthoses: A Systematic Review

Objectives: Ankle orthoses are one of the interventions used to prevent first and repeated lateral ankle sprains. We conducted this systematic review of the literature to investigate the effect of ankle orthoses on postural control in individuals with acute, chronic, or functional ankle sprains. Methods: Three electronic databases (Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science) were searched for experimental studies using predefined keywords. We used the PRISMA method to select articles. Initially, the articles were examined for inclusion criteria and then assessed for their quality based on the physiotherapy evidence database scale. Results: In the initial search, we retrieved 156 articles. After following the steps of the PRISMA flowchart and reviewing the entire text, only 14 reports met the inclusion criteria of this study. We extracted data from population, intervention, and outcome measures. Discussion: Overall, ankle orthoses were effective in improving the static postural control of patients with lateral ankle sprains; however, the dynamic postural control results were unclear. Since most people who experience lateral ankle sprains have both functional and mechanical instability, ankle orthoses may affect both types of instability and thereby improve postural control.