Ankle/Foot Passive Range of Motion | Basic PROM Assessment

Ankle/Foot Passive Range of Motion assessment is part of a basic physiotherapeutic assessment.
The goal of passive range of motion assessment is to assess the osteokinematic movements of a joint, to evaluate the range of motion in degrees, and if the range of motion is limited to evaluate the end-feel. You can find a collection of different end-feels in this table.

Alawna et al. (2019) conducted a reliability study comparing standard goniometers and smartphone inclinometers and found excellent inter and intra-rater reliability for ankle range of motion assessment.

Plantarflexion:

Have the patient in supine lying position close to the long edge of the bench, and you’re standing on the side to be examined. First, flex the patient’s knee to 90° and place one hand on around the patient’s talus, either with the web of your hand or alternatively with the hypothenar aspect. The other hand grabs onto the plantar aspect of the calcaneus.Then move the patient’s foot into plantarflexion and assess the end feel.

Dorsiflexion:

To assess dorsiflexion the patient is in the same position as before. Use one hand to fixate the tibia and fibula and place the other hand on the plantar aspect of the foot. Make sure you’re as close as possible to the talus. Then move the foot into dorsiflexion and assess the end feel.
For inversion and eversion, which are movements in the subtalar joint we will link a video that we’ve made earlier. You can find it in the video description or by a click on the little info icon in the top right corner. 

Inversion:

When we refer to inversion, we mean a combined movement of plantar flexion, adduction, and supination.

Eversion:

When we refer to eversion, we mean a combined movement of dorsiflexion, abduction, and pronation.

Other wikis you might be interested in:

• Active Range of Motion Assessment of the Ankle/Foot Complex

Alawna MA, Unver BH, Yuksel EO. The reliability of a smartphone goniometer application compared with a traditional goniometer for measuring ankle joint range of motion. Journal of the american podiatric medical association. 2019 Jan;109(1):22-9.

Soucie JM, Wang C, Forsyth A, Funk S, Denny M, Roach KE, Boone D, Hemophilia Treatment Center Network. Range of motion measurements: reference values and a database for comparison studies. Haemophilia. 2011 May;17(3):500-7.

McKay MJ, Baldwin JN, Ferreira P, Simic M, Vanicek N, Burns J, 1000 Norms Project Consortium. Normative reference values for strength and flexibility of 1,000 children and adults. Neurology. 2017 Jan 3;88(1):36-43.