CASE REPORT: ENHANCING ANKLE FUNCTIONALITY STATUS-POST ACUTE INVERSION INJURY UTILIZING OSTEOPATHIC MANIPULATIVE TREATMENT

Purpose: This case study evaluated the effectiveness of osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) in enhancing functionality in the ankle status post grade II lateral ankle sprain. Methods: AC is a 55 year old Caucasian male presenting to the UNT Health Bone & Joint Institute (BJI) after suffering an inversion injury to his right ankle two weeks prior. AC was diagnosed with grade II inversion ankle sprain, ankle effusion, and somatic dysfunction of the lower extremity. In addition to traditional conservative management, osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) was performed to the ankle and lower extremity. Results: There was a noted immediate decrease in the ankle effusion from 1.12cm to 0.54cm status-post treatment with OMT as seen on musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSK US). His pain decreased from 9/10 to 5/10 with increased range of motion (ROM) post-OMT. Conclusions: This case study demonstrated the benefit of utilizing OMT for acute inversion ankle injuries. This study can serve as a model for a clinical trial to demonstrate how OMT can be used to complement and improve upon the standard of care in an effort to decrease the morbidity of this frequently occurring injury.