Lateral Ankle Sprain and Chronic Ankle Instability: What a Systematic Review and a Meta-Analysis Found About Exercise and the Return-to-Sport Decision

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants who manage athletes and active patients after a lateral ankle sprain, in outpatient orthopedics, sports medicine, collegiate and secondary school settings, and performing-arts or military rehabilitation.

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants. Athletic trainers, occupational therapists and other rehabilitation professionals who treat ankle injuries may also find the material useful.

Intended audience

Physical Therapy

Level

Intermediate

Delivery format

Online, asynchronous, self-paced course: interactive reading with audio or video, and a scored post-test.

Based on

This course reports the findings of two peer-reviewed papers and introduces no claims beyond them.

Jiang H, Mei Q, Wang Y, Yang X, Liew BX, Fernandez J, Gu Y. Towards the strategies of return to sport after lateral ankle Sprain: a systematic review. Ann Med. 2025;57(1):2586334. doi:10.1080/07853890.2025.2586334

Zhang C, Luo Z, Wu D, Fei J, Xie T, Su M. Effectiveness of exercise therapy on chronic ankle instability: a meta-analysis. Sci Rep. 2025;15(1):11709. doi:10.1038/s41598-025-95896-w

After completing this course, you will be able to:

1. Describe what the systematic review by Jiang and colleagues reported about the rehabilitation measures, decision criteria and timing that shape return to sport after a lateral ankle sprain, including the deficits athletes still carried at the moment of clearance.
2. State what the meta-analysis by Zhang and colleagues found about exercise therapy for chronic ankle instability, including which program length and which categories of exercise were linked to better self-reported function and dynamic balance reach.
3. Explain where the two papers agree, where they diverge, and what each one reported about the relationship between rehabilitating instability and deciding that an athlete is ready to return to sport.

1. Start Here: How This Course Works
2. Part One: Return-to-Sport Strategies and Criteria After Lateral Ankle Sprain
3. Who Was Studied and Why Return to Sport Resists a Simple Definition
4. How the Review Was Searched, Screened and Quality-Scored
5. Rehabilitation Measures, Decision Criteria and the Role of Time
6. Deficits Still Present at Clearance and What the Authors Concluded
7. Part Two: Exercise Therapy for Chronic Ankle Instability
8. The Trials That Were Pooled and the Patients in Them
9. How the Meta-Analysis Was Conducted and How the Evidence Was Rated
10. What Changed With Exercise: Self-Reported Function and Dynamic Balance
11. Program Length, Exercise Type and the Limits of the Findings
12. Bringing It Together
13. Where the Two Papers Point in the Same Direction
14. Where They Diverge and Which Paper Reported What
15. Rehabilitating the Unstable Ankle Alongside the Clearance Decision
16. Questions the Current Evidence Leaves Open
17. Key Takeaways
18. Post-Test and Course Evaluation

Quinn Millington, PT, DPT, ECS is the instructor of record: the licensed clinician who reviewed this course and signed off on it. The name and credentials print on the certificate.

Disclosures. This course was developed by The ConEd Solution, which has a financial interest in its sale. No outside funding or sponsorship was received. The instructor of record has no affiliation with the authors of the source publication or their institutions.

This course awards 1.0 contact hour (60 min). How you earn them:

1. Complete the course. Every lesson, in order.
2. Pass the post-test. Score 80% or higher. Retakes are allowed.
3. Complete the evaluation. A short form rating each learning objective and the course.
4. Download your certificate. It is issued on completion and stays available in My Account.

The episode time is its measured length. Reading, post-test and evaluation times are estimates.

This course is designed to satisfy the quality requirements state boards set for continuing education. Requirements vary by state, and confirming that a course fits your renewal is up to you. Each state’s own acceptance statement is in the credit panel on this page.

1. Jiang H, Mei Q, Wang Y, Yang X, Liew BX, Fernandez J, Gu Y. Towards the strategies of return to sport after lateral ankle Sprain: a systematic review. Ann Med. 2025;57(1):2586334. doi:10.1080/07853890.2025.2586334
2. Zhang C, Luo Z, Wu D, Fei J, Xie T, Su M. Effectiveness of exercise therapy on chronic ankle instability: a meta-analysis. Sci Rep. 2025;15(1):11709. doi:10.1038/s41598-025-95896-w