Abstract:[Objective] To compare the clinical outcomes of open Brostrom-Gould procedure versus arthroscopic counterpart for repair of the anterior talofibular ligament (ATFL). [Methods] A retrospective study was conducted on 64 patients who received Brostrom-Gould procedure for chronic lateral ankle instability in our hospital from January 2019 to January 2022. According to preoperative doctor-patient communication, 26 patients were treated with conventional open technique, while other 38 patients were treated with arthroscopic technique. The document regarding perioperative period, followup and imaging were compared between the two groups. [Results] The open group proved significantly inferior to the arthroscopic group in terms of operation time [(64.5±10.1) min vs (57.8±6.4) min, P=0.005], incision length [(5.5±1.0) cm vs (2.9±0.7) cm, P<0.001], intraoperative blood loss [(38.6±11.3) mL vs (20.1±4.0) mL, P<0.001], and hospital stay [(7.2±1.4) days vs (4.1±1.5) days, P<0.001]. The average follow-up time was of (30.6±5.0) months, and the open group resumed walking [(20.7±2.1) days vs (16.9±2.0) days, P<0.001] and full weight-bearing activity [(83.7±4.1) days vs (64.2±3.7) days, P<0.001] significantly latter than the arthroscopic group. The anterior drawer test, inversion test, VAS score, AOFAS score and ROM in both groups were significantly improved 1 month after surgery and at the last follow-up compared with those preoperatively (P<0.05). The VAS [(4.6±1.5) vs (2.7±1.5), P< 0.001] and AOFAS score [(74.1±8.2) vs (80.0±7.6), P=0.005] in the open group was significantly inferior to those in the arthroscopic group 1 month after surgery, despite of the fact that no statistical significance was noted in the above indexes between the two groups at remaining time points (P>0.05). As for imaging, the talar tilt (TT), anterior displacement (AD) and Kellgren-Lawrence (K-L) grades in both groups were significantly improved, immediately after surgery and at the last follow-up compared with those preoperatively (P<0.05), whereas which were not statistically significant between the two groups at any time point accordingly (P>0.05). [Conclusion] Arthroscopic Brostrom-Gould procedure for repair of ATFL has the advantages of short operation time, small incision, less blood loss, less pain in the early postoperative period, and faster functional recovery.