Minnesota Rule 5223.0520
Minnesota ankle PPD rating
Rule 5223.0520 rates the ankle under exclusive categories (the Achilles rupture ladder, medial/lateral ligament laxity, painful organic syndrome, three per-nerve entrapment ladders, the extraarticular calcaneal fracture), combinable categories (intra-articular calcaneal fracture, avascular necrosis of the talus, arthroplasty, the malleolar fracture group), and loss of measured motion under subpart 4. Combinable categories also take a subpart 4 rating; distinct impairing conditions combine under 5223.0300, subpart 3, item E; and the whole part is capped at the amputation value for the leg at the ankle.
Rule text from the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes, retrieved 2026-08-02.
This is my working reading of Minnesota Rule chapter 5223. I keep checking it against the official rule text and published decisions. If a category, percent, or combination looks wrong, email hello@mncompbuddy.com and say what you found. A mismatch is a reason to look again, not a reason to treat this tool or a doctor rating as automatically correct.
The percents on this page are the condition categories. This part also rates measured motion loss under subpart 4 (38 clauses). Those numbers live in the guided calculator. A total here is not the whole rating when the records also show lost motion.
How the rule decides
Each group below is a set of alternatives: the facts select at most one category from each group. Add-ons attach to their base category as the rule directs and are added, not statutorily combined.
Choose one: ankle achilles
Requires: Achilles tendon rupture; and Able to sustain body weight standing on the toes of the injured leg.
R. 5223.0520, subp. 2.A(1)
Requires: Achilles tendon rupture; and not: able to sustain body weight standing on the toes of the injured leg.
R. 5223.0520, subp. 2.A(2)
Choose one: ankle ligament
Requires: Residual laxity from a ruptured medial or lateral ankle ligament, repaired or unrepaired: mild laxity.
R. 5223.0520, subp. 2.B(1)
Requires: Residual laxity from a ruptured medial or lateral ankle ligament, repaired or unrepaired: moderate laxity: at least ten degrees greater widening on the talar tilt stress test x-ray than the uninjured side.
R. 5223.0520, subp. 2.B(2)
Choose one: ankle pain syndrome
Requires: Painful organic syndrome (as defined at 5223.0310, subp. 40), substantiated by consistent, reproducible clinical or radiographic findings, with persistent limitation of active motion or deviation of gait; and not: passive range of motion of the ankle is limited.
R. 5223.0520, subp. 2.C
Choose one: ankle entrapment plantar
Requires: Plantar nerve entrapment at the ankle or in the foot (tarsal tunnel syndrome): resolved with treatment.
R. 5223.0520, subp. 2.D(1)
Requires: Plantar nerve entrapment at the ankle or in the foot (tarsal tunnel syndrome): pain and paresthesia persist or recur despite treatment, not substantiated by electrodiagnostic testing.
R. 5223.0520, subp. 2.D(2)
Requires: Plantar nerve entrapment at the ankle or in the foot (tarsal tunnel syndrome): pain and paresthesia persist despite therapy, substantiated by electrodiagnostic testing.
R. 5223.0520, subp. 2.D(3)
Choose one: ankle entrapment sural
Requires: Sural nerve entrapment at the ankle or in the foot: resolved with treatment.
R. 5223.0520, subp. 2.D(1)
Requires: Sural nerve entrapment at the ankle or in the foot: pain and paresthesia persist or recur despite treatment, not substantiated by electrodiagnostic testing.
R. 5223.0520, subp. 2.D(2)
Requires: Sural nerve entrapment at the ankle or in the foot: pain and paresthesia persist despite therapy, substantiated by electrodiagnostic testing.
R. 5223.0520, subp. 2.D(3)
Choose one: ankle entrapment peroneal
Requires: Peroneal nerve entrapment at the ankle or in the foot: resolved with treatment.
R. 5223.0520, subp. 2.D(1)
Requires: Peroneal nerve entrapment at the ankle or in the foot: pain and paresthesia persist or recur despite treatment, not substantiated by electrodiagnostic testing.
R. 5223.0520, subp. 2.D(2)
Requires: Peroneal nerve entrapment at the ankle or in the foot: pain and paresthesia persist despite therapy, substantiated by electrodiagnostic testing.
R. 5223.0520, subp. 2.D(3)
Choose one: ankle calcaneal
Requires: Calcaneal (heel bone) fracture, by joint involvement: extraarticular (not into the subtalar joint).
R. 5223.0520, subp. 2.E
Requires: Calcaneal (heel bone) fracture, by joint involvement: intra-articular (into the joint surface).
R. 5223.0520, subp. 3.A
Choose one: ankle avn
Requires: Avascular necrosis of the talus.
R. 5223.0520, subp. 3.B
Choose one: ankle arthroplasty
Requires: Ankle arthroplasty (joint replacement) performed.
R. 5223.0520, subp. 3.C
Requires: Ankle arthrodesis (fusion) performed.
R. 5223.0520, subp. 1 (rated only under subp. 4)
Choose one: ankle fracture
Requires: Ankle (malleolar) fracture pattern: medial or lateral malleolus.
R. 5223.0520, subp. 3.D(1)
Requires: Ankle (malleolar) fracture pattern: bimalleolar or trimalleolar.
R. 5223.0520, subp. 3.D(2)
Choose one: ankle fracture catchall
Requires: Any other fracture or dislocation involving the ankle not otherwise ratable under this part (foot bone fractures belong to 5223.0530).
R. 5223.0520, subp. 3.D(3)
Choose one: ankle unlisted motion loss
Requires: either An ankle condition no category of subparts 2 or 3 represents, rated only on measured loss of motion under subpart 4, or Painful organic syndrome (as defined at 5223.0310, subp. 40), substantiated by consistent, reproducible clinical or radiographic findings, with persistent limitation of active motion or deviation of gait; and Passive range of motion of the ankle is limited.
R. 5223.0520, subp. 1 (rated only under subp. 4)
What the records must show
These are the facts the rule turns on. If one is unknown, the affected categories stay open questions with the document that would settle them; an unknown never counts as a no.
Proof: MRI or ultrasound report; operative report
Proof: exam notes documenting single-leg toe raise
Proof: talar tilt stress test x-ray report comparing both ankles
Proof: exam notes; imaging reports
Proof: exam notes with passive range of motion measurements
Proof: EMG/nerve conduction study; exam notes
Proof: EMG/nerve conduction study; exam notes
Proof: EMG/nerve conduction study; exam notes
Proof: x-ray or CT report
Proof: MRI or x-ray report describing avascular necrosis
Proof: operative report
Proof: operative report
Proof: x-ray or CT report
Proof: x-ray or CT report
Proof: diagnosis records; range of motion measurements
Worked examples with receipts
Each example runs through the same engine the calculator uses. The category total, the components, and the citations are computed, not typed in. These receipts are category percents only. They do not include subpart 4 motion.
Bimalleolar fracture, category alone
category total
Date of injury 2024-01-01
- Ankle (malleolar) fracture pattern: bimalleolar or trimalleolar
- Ankle Fracture: Bimalleolar/Trimalleolar: 4%
- Category total: 4%Does not include subpart 4 motion
Achilles rupture, unable to sustain body weight on toes
category total
Date of injury 2024-01-01
- Achilles tendon rupture: yes
- Able to sustain body weight standing on the toes of the injured leg: no
- Achilles Tendon Rupture: Repaired: 4%
- Category total: 4%Does not include subpart 4 motion
Arthroplasty (10) combined with avascular necrosis of the talus (10), distinct conditions
category total
Date of injury 2024-01-01
- Ankle arthroplasty (joint replacement) performed: yes
- Avascular necrosis of the talus: yes
- Ankle Arthroplasty (Total Ankle Replacement): 10%
- Avascular Necrosis of the Talus: 10%
- Category total: 19%Does not include subpart 4 motion
Tarsal tunnel syndrome persisting despite therapy, substantiated by electrodiagnostic testing
category total
Date of injury 2024-01-01
- Plantar nerve entrapment at the ankle or in the foot (tarsal tunnel syndrome): pain and paresthesia persist despite therapy, substantiated by electrodiagnostic testing
- Symptoms persist and the nerve study confirms them: 2%
- Category total: 2%Does not include subpart 4 motion
Related rules
These cross-links come from the compiled graph. Read the official rule text for the full statutory language.
See also rule 5223.0420
Official text for 5223.0420Subp. 2.D(4): entrapment with objectively demonstrable motor loss rates under the motor nerve table of 5223.0420 (plantar branch and peroneal rows).
See also rule 5223.0430
Official text for 5223.0430Subp. 2.D(4): entrapment with objectively demonstrable sensory loss rates under the sensory nerve table of 5223.0430 (plantar branches, sural, superficial peroneal rows).
See also rule 5223.0530
Official text for 5223.0530Fractures of the foot bones (metatarsals, midfoot) rate under the foot part, not the 3.D(3) catch-all.
See also rule 5223.0550
Official text for 5223.0550
Common questions
How is a ruptured Achilles tendon rated?
Two percent if the person can sustain body weight standing on the toes of the injured leg, four percent if not. The category is exclusive: it stands alone for that condition, with no separate motion rating added to it.
What does an ankle fusion rate?
Arthrodesis has no category percent. A fused ankle is rated on the ankylosis clauses of subpart 4, which pay by the position the joint is fixed in. An ankle replacement (arthroplasty) rates ten percent plus the measured motion loss.
What is the difference between the two calcaneal fracture categories?
An extraarticular calcaneal fracture rates three percent as an exclusive category (nothing added). An intra-articular calcaneal fracture rates three percent as a combinable category, so the measured motion loss under subpart 4 is combined with it. Both describe one impairing condition; only one applies.
What counts as moderate ankle ligament laxity?
The rule sets an objective threshold: at least ten degrees greater widening on the talar tilt stress test x-ray compared to the uninjured side. Less than that with residual laxity is the two percent mild category.
My ankle x-ray shows a fracture that is not a malleolus or the heel bone. What rates?
Any other fracture or dislocation involving the ankle not otherwise ratable rates one percent under subpart 3.D(3) plus the measured motion loss. Fractures of the foot bones themselves (metatarsals, midfoot) rate under the foot part, 5223.0530.
Interpretive notes
- Subpart 4 (loss of function) is delegated to the ROM module: two arcs whose clauses add, to a maximum of 28 percent, plus the ankylosis clauses arthrodesis rates on.
- The three entrapment ladders are separate impairing conditions, one per named nerve; two entrapped nerves combine. Objectively demonstrable motor or sensory loss moves the rating to the nerve tables (2.D(4)).
What to do next
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