Brostrom-Gould Lateral Ankle Ligament Reconstruction With Suture Bridge Modification

The Brostrom-Gould technique for lateral ankle ligament reconstruction is a well known and widely used procedure for ankle instability. Absorbable suture anchors have been successfully used for reattachment of the ligaments to the distal fibula, allowing for fast repair. The strength of the repair depends largely on the number of anchors, their pullout strength, quality of the tissue being reattached and the surface area of ligament adherence to bone, or the footprint of the attachment. The Suture Bridge (or double row repair) technique has been successfully used in other areas of tendon repair, such as rotator cuff repair and Achilles tendon reattachment. This technique has been adopted for the lateral ankle ligament reconstruction. It provides a reliable, fast, and easily reproducible repair with strength superior to that of a single row anchor ligament reattachment that allows patients a faster return to weight bearing and normal activities. After a 2-year follow-up, 95% of patients had a satisfactory result, with the rest requiring a revision procedure with a tendon augmented reconstruction.