There are two provocative tests that can assess ankle
instability—the anterior drawer test and the talar tilt test.
The anterior drawer test assesses the integrity of the ATFL
as the ATFL prevents anterior translation of the talus with
respect to the tibia. The test is performed after positioning
the ankle in neutral to 10° of plantar flexion with the patient
seated and the knee flexed (Fig. 2). The examiner holds the
calcaneus in one hand while stabilizing the distal tibia in
the other, and the calcaneus is translated forward. Increased
translation of 3 mm compared to the uninjured side or an
absolute value of 10 mm of displacement correlates to ATFL
incompetence.19