Brief summary, from the abstract
In a large military cohort, about one in five people who sought care for an ankle sprain went on to have a knee, hip, or lumbar spine injury within the next year, and those who received therapeutic exercise for the original sprain were less likely to sustain these proximal injuries.
- Among 33,361 people diagnosed with an ankle sprain and followed for 1 year, 20.5% (n = 6848) sustained a proximal injury: 10.1% knee (n = 3356), 2.9% hip (n = 973), and 10.3% lumbar (n = 3452).
- Receiving therapeutic exercise after the sprain was linked to lower rates of subsequent knee (HR = 0.87, 95% CI 0.80 to 0.94), hip (HR = 0.68, 95% CI 0.58 to 0.79), and lumbar (HR = 0.82, 95% CI 0.76 to 0.89) injury.
- Fewer than half of the cohort actually received therapeutic exercise after their initial sprain.
- This is an observational study of military health records, so it shows association rather than proof that exercise caused the lower injury rates.
Clinically assessing this area? See the knee special tests.