• Journal of Korean Foot and Ankle Society
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.187-194
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• 2011

Ankle injuries may involve the distal tibiofibular syndesmosis and can be associated with a variable degree of trauma to the soft tissue and osseous structures that play an important role in ankle joint stability. Ankle syndesmotic injury may occur solely as a soft tissue injury or in association with variable ankle fractures. Ankle syndesmotic injury does not necessarily lead to ankle instability; however, the coexistence of deltoid ligament injury critically destabilizes the ankle joint. The prevalence of these injuries may be higher than previously reported. The diagnosis of syndesmotic injury as not always easy because isolated ankle sprains may be missed in the absence of a frank diastasis and syndesmotic instability may be unnoticed in the presence of bimalleolar ankle fractures. Controversies arise at almost every phase of treatment includings : type of fixation(screw size, type of implant), number of cortices required for fixation and of need for hardware removal. Regardless of controversies, the most important goal should be restore and maintain the normal tibiofibular relationship to allow for healing of the ligamentous structures of the syndesmosis.

• Journal of Korean Foot and Ankle Society
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.108-112
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• 2017

The midtarsal joint is composed of the talonavicular and calcaneocuboid joints. It is also known as the Chopart joint. Midtarsal joint fracture and dislocation are relatively rare and frequently missed or misdiagnosed. A proper understanding about the anatomy of the midtarsal joint is an essential part in comprehending the mechanism of injury and rationale for treatment. Anatomical reduction of midtarsal joint with correction of the column in length and shape are important; however, it is technically challenging and may require open procedure. Herein, we described a case of initial open reduction and internal fixation for midtarsal joint fracture and dislocation with a brief literature review.

• Journal of Korean Foot and Ankle Society
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.87-92
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• 2023

Purpose: Concomitant ankle injuries associated with tibial shaft fractures can affect postoperative ankle joint pain and various postoperative ankle complications. This study compared the clinical outcomes between surgical treatment and conservative treatment of concomitant ankle injuries associated with tibial shaft fractures. Materials and Methods: From January 2015 to June 2020, a retrospective study was conducted on 118 tibia shaft fractures at the orthopedics department of the hospital. Associated ankle injuries were analyzed using plain radiographs, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and intraoperative stress exams. The clinical outcomes were compared using the pain visual analog scale (pain VAS), American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society Ankle-Hindfoot score (AOFAS score), and Karlsson-Peterson ankle score (KP score). Results: Seventy-two (61.02%) of the 118 cases were diagnosed with associated ankle injuries. Fifty-six cases underwent surgery for the ankle injury, and 16 cases underwent conservative treatment. The clinical results (according to the pain VAS score, AOFAS score, the KP score) were 1.79±1.26, 94.48±4.03, and 94.57±3.60, respectively, in the surgical treatment group, and 3.00±1.03, 91.06±3.02, and 91.25±3.31, respectively, in the conservative treatment group. Conclusion: Surgical treatment showed better clinical outcomes than conservative treatment in concomitant ankle injury in tibia fractures. Therefore, surgical treatment produces better clinical outcomes than conservative treatment in concomitant ankle injuries in tibia fractures. Hence to improve the clinical outcomes, more attention is needed on ankle joint injury in tibial shaft fractures for selecting suitable surgical treatments for those patients.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.113-120
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• 2018

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to investigate the characteristics of a specific functional shoe in terms of the range of motion (ROM) of ankle and foot joints during walking when compared to a standardized shoe. METHODS: Kinematic ROM data pertaining to ankle, tarsometatarsal, and metatarsophalangeal joints were collected from twenty-six healthy individuals during walking using a ten-camera motion analysis system. Kinematic ROM of each joint in three planes was obtained over ten walking trials consisting of two different shoe conditions. Visual3D motion analysis was finally used to coordinate the kinematic data. All kinematic ROM data were interpolated using a cubic spline algorithm and low-pass filtered with a cutoff frequency of 6 Hz for smoothing. RESULTS: The overall ROM of the ankle joint in the sagittal and coronal planes when wearing the specific functional shoe was significantly decreased in both ankles during walking when compared to wearing a standard shoe (p<.05). Significantly more flexibility was observed when wearing the specific functional shoe in the tarsometatarsal and metatarsophalangeal joints compared to a standard shoe (p<.05). CONCLUSION: Although clinical application of the specific functional shoe has shown clear positive effects on knee and ankle moments, the results of this study provide important background information regarding the kinematic mechanisms of these effects.

• Journal of Korean Foot and Ankle Society
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2020

Acute ankle sprain is the most common injury in the lower extremities, and approximately 10% to 40% of acute lateral ankle ligament injury causes chronic pain or instability. For chronic symptoms lasting after an acute sprain, the possibility of joint damage, such as bony structures, ligaments, cartilage, and nerves around the ankle joint, should be considered. Patients with chronic lateral ankle instability usually complain of repeated sprains or giving way sensations. There has been steady progress in the treatment options until recently, however new treatments are still being attempted. This paper describes the causes, diagnosis, and recent trends in the conservative and operative treatment of chronic lateral ankle instability.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.67-73
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• 2010

The foot performs an important function in supporting the body and keeping body balance. An abnormal walking habit breaks the balance of the human body as well as the normal function of the foot. The influence of a flatfoot(pes planus) occupies a considerable portion of the various causes resulting in the wrong walking habit. But, little studies has been done by the functional foot orthotics for the flat foot. The object of this study, therefore, is to propose a new approach method to reveal the effects of the improvement of the foot function by using orthotics. The essential point of this study is to measure and analyze the change of ankle angle in the sagittal plane for flat foot subjects wearing the orthotics. Before and after wearing the functional orthotics, the gait analysis of flat foot subjects was conducted in three experimental aspects : the change of ankle angle, the change of the total Ankle ROM and the difference of left & right ankle angle in the sagittal plane. 1. The average ankle angle differences of before-and-after wearing the orthotics have declined like this; left : $2.71^{\circ}$, right: $1.91^{\circ}$ (p<0.05). 2. Total ankle ROM also showed decrease in both sides while the left side's is rather slight; left : $0.57^{\circ}$, right : $2.07^{\circ}$ (p<0.05). 3. The difference of left and right ankle angle in the sagittal plane decreased by $0.71^{\circ}$ (p<0.05). In result, it is confirmed that the functional foot orthotics have a significant effect on mechanical movement of ankle joint for flat foot. it is expected that this paper will be further studied and improved as a practical estimation method in the research on the effect of foot-orthotics.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.359-368
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• 2001

A new knee-ankle-foot-orthosis(KAFO) which uses an automatically-controlled electromechanical wrap spring clutch for the knee joint was developed in the present study. It was found that the output voltage from the foot switches of the developed KAFO was proportionally increased with respect to the applied load. The output voltage from the infrared sensor also decreased as the knee flexion angle increased. The knee joint system for the new KAFO weighs only 780g lighter than any other commercially available developed system. In addition, the solenoid reduces the reaction time for the automatic control of the knee joint. The static torque of the clutch was measured for three persons, and it satisfied the normal knee extension moment during the pre-swing. Three-dimensional gait analyses for three different gait patterns (normal gait, locked-knee gait, controlled-knee gait) from five normal subjects were conducted. Controlled-knee gait showed the maximum knee flexion angle of 40.56$\pm9.55^{\circ}$ and the maximum knee flexion moment of 0.20$\pm$0.07Nm/kg at similar periods in the normal gait. Our KAFO system satisfies both stability during stance phase and free knee flexion during the swing phase at the proper period during the gait cycle. Therefore, our KAFO system would be very useful in various low extremity orthotic applications.

• Journal of Korean Foot and Ankle Society
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.120-126
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• 2018

Chopart joint fracture and dislocation are rare injuries compared with other joint injuries with various clinical manifestations. Moreover, there is a lack of knowledge of the radiological findings of the joints, and thus, the extent of joint ligament damage may be underestimated, leading to improper treatment. This paper reports three cases of Chopart joint injury and seeks to reconsider the importance of Chopart joint evaluation and treatment.

• Journal of Korean Foot and Ankle Society
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.122-127
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• 2017

This paper reviews the indications and surgical technique of supramalleolar osteotomy as one of the treatments for moderate degenerative ankle osteoarthritis. Although it is technically demanding and requires extensive preoperative planning, supramalleolar osteotomy will be a good treatment option for moderate degenerative ankle osteoarthritis. The osteotomy is designed to shift the weight bearing axis to the lateral side of the ankle joint and unload the medial side of the joint. In our experience, a supramalleolar osteotomy is effective to the treatment of moderate ankle osteoarthritis with a small amount of preoperative talar tilt and varus or normal heel alignment.

• Journal of Korean Foot and Ankle Society
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.107-110
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• 2007

Synovial chondromatosis is an uncommon non-neoplastic condition of the joints, forming multiple cartilaginous nodules in the synovium. The lesion usually tends to involve large joints, and the occurrence in the small joint of foot is very rare. We would like to report a case of synovial chondromatosis which was confused with Freiberg infarction in the 1st metatarsophalangeal joint of the foot.