Anterior Drawer Test of Ankle | Anterior Drawer & Talar Tilt | Ancle Lateral Ligament Injury |

The main purpose of this test is to determine whether ankle mechanical instability or hypermobility in the sagittal plane of the talocrural joint or simply upper ankle joint.....) is present or not

How this test is performed

To conduct the test, the patient lies supine, the upper leg is supported by the table, the knee joint is flexed, and the ankle joint is held in 10-15° of plantarflexion. Then grasp the heel, while the patient’s foot lies on the anterior aspect of your forearm. With the other hand, hold back the patient’s tibia and then draw the foot anteriorly.

In a positive test, ....

you would feel increased anterior translation compared to the unaffected ankle ....

and might be able to observe a dimple appearing on the anterolateral aspect of the talus

The test is graded on a 4-point scale. 0 represents no laxity and 3 represents gross laxity