The efficacy of antiinflammatory medication in the treatment of the acutely sprained ankle.

The value of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs in the treatment of various sports-related injuries has been investigated by several groups. Despite these efforts, the experimental results are difficult to interpret, and very few investigations have focused on a single injury type in the acute phase. A double-blind study compared ibuprofen at a dose of 2,400 mg per day and a placebo in the 1st week of treatment of 61 acute ankle sprains with varying degrees of severity. Medical evaluation by the same physician was performed on the 1st, 4th, 8th, and 28th day following the injury. Subjective evaluation of pain, number of painful ligaments at palpation, passive mobilization induced pain, edema, and functional incapacity served as the clinical parameters. Although there were trends indicating a superiority of effectiveness in the treatment group, the differences between groups were not statistically significant.