Ankle Thrust 2023

Thrust manipulation may serve as an interventional strategy but limited evidence exists on the mechanism(s) by which a change to symptoms might occur. The purpose of this study was to quantify the immediate effect of a thrust manipulation to the ankle to determine a mechanism by which change to symptoms occurs. Eleven participants (6m/5f, 26.09 + 4.25 yrs) with a history of ankle sprain that occurred greater than three months ago with recurring pain and/or altered motion were recruited. Participants underwent neurophysiological testing to assess any pain alterations and instrumented gait analysis (IGA) for biomechanical assessment pre-post thrust manipulation to the ankle. There were no significant differences in ankle dorsiflexion (DF) (p=0.62), plantarflexion (PF) (p=0.23), ground reaction force (GRF), or velocity (p=0.63) following thrust manipulation compared to baseline; however, pre- and post- data did show differences in pain pressure threshold (p=0.046). There were no significant differences in dynamic pain measurements. Ankle sprains that result in persistent pain and/ or altered motion can be impacted by a thrust manipulation which appears to act through neurophysiological mechanisms.