The New Zealand medical journal
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The aims of this study were to measure baseline use of Ottawa ankle rules (OAR), validate the OAR and, if appropriate, explore the impact of implementing the Rules on X-ray rates in a primary care, after hours medical centre setting. ⋯ The OAR are valid in a New Zealand primary care setting. Further implementation of the rules would result in some reduction of X-rays ordered for ankle injuries, but less than the reduction found in previous studies.