Developing consensus on clinical assessment of acute lateral ankle sprain injuries: protocol for an international and multidisciplinary modified Delphi process

Within a year of first-time acute lateral ankle sprain injury, as many as 40% of individuals develop long-term injury-associated symptoms and chronic ankle instability.1 Chronic ankle instability is founded in a combination of mechanical and sensorimotor impairments, which manifest after the injury.2 Before effective management protocols for lateral ankle sprain injuries can be developed and implemented, it is pertinent that a best practice, evidence-based approach to the clinical assessment of acute lateral ankle sprain injury is established. Second to diagnosis of the acute injury, clinical assessment should establish the presence or otherwise of mechanical and sensorimotor impairments that associate with chronic ankle instability. Developing structured, best practice, evidence-based recommendations for the clinical assessment of acute lateral ankle sprain injuries could be achieved by a …