Peroneal Muscle Size and Quality Changes after Impairment-Based Rehabilitation in Patients with Chronic Ankle Instability.

International journal of sports physical therapy · 2026 · Cohort · PT
Abbis Jaffri, Rachel Koldenhoven, Alexandra Lempke, Joseph Park, Joe Hart, Jay Hertel, Susan Saliba

Four weeks of individualized ankle rehab grew the peroneal muscles and improved their tissue quality in young adults with chronic ankle instability. Standing measurements showed bigger gains than lying, and the untrained leg also grew but its quality did not change.

Key findings

1

Peroneal muscle cross-sectional area increased significantly in the trained leg after 4 weeks of impairment-based rehabilitation, in both the lying and standing positions.

2

Muscle quality, measured by echogenicity, improved significantly in the trained leg (p = 0.01) but showed no significant change in the untrained leg (p = 0.15).

3

The untrained leg also gained significant cross-sectional area in both positions, consistent with a cross-education effect, though the standing-position gain was only about 40% of the trained-leg gain.

MethodologyResultsClinical Relevance

Single-blind randomized controlled trial. Sixty-four participants were randomized across two intervention arms and assessed at twelve weeks for the primary outcome…

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