This is rather extreme, but I guess getting one patient on my own and a friend at that, this badminton injury is not so uncommon at all! This is what you get when you plunge into the game of badminton, unprepared, on an unforgiving rough court and without footwork and fitness basics.

This a thirty something guy, slightly overweight for his age, a newbie badminton warrior who accidentally twisted his ankle while trying to return a high clear from his opponent. He was running fats, slipped and lost balance, twisted his right ankle and felt a sharp excruciating pain after a “crack” on his right ankle. He couldn’t move his ankle then, which he described as grossly dislocated. A companion got enough courage to “relocate” his ankle and then he was brought to me for consult. The rest of the story is a temporary end to his badminton career.

I couldn’t believe when I first saw him, but when I saw the x-ray, it was rather something very unstable (bi-malleolar fx with syndesmotic injury), that I have to do an surgery and put metal implants in his distal leg bones (ORIF with plates and screws) to hold the reduction. Post operatively, this guy will be on crutch ambulation for 3 months, on a cast (we don’t have a cast boot here)! And it will probably take some time, before he can go back to playing badminton for sure!