The concept of utilizing nonabsorbable suture tape fixed directly to bone to augment Brostrom repairs of the anterior talofibular ligament (ATFL) has been proposed. No biomechanical studies of this technique are available. We hypothesized that suture tape augmentation alone and Brostrom repair with suture tape augmentation would have similar biomechanical properties to the intact ATFL at time zero in a cadaveric model. This study found that the ATFL with suture tape augmentation is at least as strong and stiff as the native ATFL at time zero in a fresh-frozen cadaveric model.

Anterior Talofibular Ligament Ruptures, Part 1: Biomechanical Comparison of Augmented Broström Repair Techniques with the Intact Anterior Talofibular Ligament