Male National Basketball Association G-League and Collegiate Basketball Athletes Have a High Prevalence of Radiographic Ankle Abnormalities

Abstract

Purpose: To characterize radiographic foot/ankle bony abnormalities in elite-level, asymptomatic male basketball athletes and to investigate the association between anthropometric (age, height, weight) or sport-specific characteristics (total exposures, player position, pregame ankle taping) and the prevalence of abnormal radiographic findings in asymptomatic basketball athletes.

Methods: Elite-level basketball players who underwent routine, preseason static radiographic imaging, including anteroposterior, lateral, and mortise views of the ankle were included. Radiographs were collected from asymptomatic athletes participating in preseason history and physical with negative anterior drawer/talar tilt test. Radiographs were evaluated by a musculoskeletal radiologist and board-certified orthopaedic surgeon; kappa statistics were used to evaluate agreement.

Results: Fifty-four basketball players (34 collegiate, 20 professional; mean age 21.5 years) were included, totaling 5,148 player exposures from 2017 to 2019. In total, 106 ankles presented with radiographic findings (98.15%). The most prevalent radiographic finding was pes planus (47.22%), followed by degenerative joint disease (DJD; 33.33%), talonavicular sclerosis (28.70%), prominent stieda process (25.93%), os trigonum (20.93%), os subfibulare (11.11%), pes cavus (5.56%), subtalar coalition (2.78%), and cavovarus (0.93%). Height ≥80 inches was significantly associated with talonavicular sclerosis and Kellgren-Lawrence 1 changes.

Conclusions: This study showed a strong association between height and talonavicular sclerosis and DJD, as well as a relatively high prevalence of pes planus and DJD in asymptomatic collegiate and professional basketball players.

Level of evidence: Level II; Cross-sectional study.

Fig 1

Talonavicular sclerosis/changes (left) and pes planus (left and right). Both are right ankle, lateral radiographs.

Fig 2

Os trigonum (left) and os subfibulare (right). The left image is a right ankle, lateral radiograph. The right image is a right ankle, anteroposterior radiograph.