Regional muscle activity feedback to improve ankle function in people with long-term ankle instability

High-density surface electromyography feedback training compared with conventional neuromuscular training for chronic ankle instability: protocol for a blinded parallel-group randomised trial

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ISRCTN

Registry ID

ISRCTN21864458

Enrollment

Registered

2026-06-03

Start date

2027-03-15

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2026-06-15

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Chronic ankle instability Musculoskeletal Diseases

Interventions

Participants will be randomly assigned to conventional neuromuscular training (Fakontis et al., 2023

Luan et al., 2021) or experimental HD-sEMG feedback training (Mendez-Rebolledo et al., 2025), each receiving three approximately 45-minute sessions per week for eight weeks. An 8-week intervention per

Santos et al., 2023), while also allowing sufficient time for psychobehavioral improvements and clinically meaningful gains in ankle function among individuals with CAI (Park et al., 2024), without co

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to 55 Years

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: Participants will be Spanish-speaking individuals aged 18 to 55 years with CAI, screened according to the diagnostic criteria recommended by the International Ankle Consortium and evaluated by an experienced physiotherapist. Eligible participants must meet all the following inclusion criteria: 1. History of a first lateral ankle sprain occurring more than 12 months before screening, with no ankle sprain in the 3 months before screening 2. Symptoms of ankle instability, including episodes of “giving way,” recurrent sprains, or perceived instability, reflected by a score of 11 or higher on the Identification of Functional Ankle Instability questionnaire 3. Reduced self-reported ankle function, defined as a score lower than 90% on the Foot and Ankle Ability Measure-Activities of Daily Living subscale and lower than 80% on the Foot and Ankle Ability Measure-Sports subscale

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: 1. Suspected fracture or acute osseous injury based on the Ottawa Ankle Rules 2. Mechanical ankle instability, as determined by the and confirmed through manual and instrumented testing procedures (anterior drawer, talar tilt, and syndesmosis testing with the Mobil-Aider Deluxe Arthrometer, Therapeutic Articulations LLC, USA) 3. Inflammatory or neurological conditions. 4. Previous lower extremity surgery 5. Ongoing participation in other CAI interventions 6. Cognitive impairments affecting instruction comprehension 7. Corticosteroid injections in the affected ankle within the last 6 months

Countries

Chile

Contacts

Public ContactGuillermo Mendez-Rebolledo

guillermomendezre@santotomas.cl+56 71 2342426

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Jun 21, 2026