Does the Side Matter? Medial vs Lateral Ankle Dorsiflexion Measurements During the Silfverskiöld Test in Children

We found a small systematic difference of 2 degrees between medial and lateral measurements that was less than the repeatability coefficient. The repeatability coefficient was 5 degrees, meaning that for ankle dorsiflexion measurements it is unlikely that a second measurement will differ more than 5 degrees. We do not believe that the statistically significant small difference between medial and lateral measurements is clinically relevant; however, it makes sense to consistently measure ankle dorsiflexion on either the medial or lateral side.