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VA rating schedule, diagnostic code 5271
An ankle condition is treated by the VA as a musculoskeletal disability. To connect it to your service, the evidence generally needs to show that an injury or disease started during (or was caused by) your military service. The VA explains that service connection means the facts show a current disability was incurred or aggravated in service, so a claim usually rests on three things: a current ankle diagnosis, an in-service event or injury, and a link ("nexus") between the two. A denial is a starting point, not the end — you can submit more evidence or appeal.
Limited motion of the ankle is rated under Diagnostic Code 5271. Under the current rating schedule (amended effective February 7, 2021), the VA defines the levels by degrees of motion: "Moderate" limited motion (less than 15 degrees of dorsiflexion or less than 30 degrees of plantar flexion) is rated 10 percent, and "Marked" limited motion (less than 5 degrees of dorsiflexion or less than 10 degrees of plantar flexion) is rated 20 percent, which is the highest level under this code. A VA examiner measures your actual range of motion to decide which level fits. If the ankle is frozen in place (ankylosis) it is rated under Diagnostic Code 5270, which can reach 20, 30, or 40 percent depending on the position and severity. The VA also has a rule that a joint with actually painful motion, instability, or malalignment from a healed injury is entitled to at least the minimum compensable rating for that joint.
Most ankle conditions are mechanical injuries, so they usually do not have an exposure-based "presumptive" pathway like Agent Orange, burn pits, Camp Lejeune water, or the PACT Act, which mainly cover specific illnesses such as certain cancers and respiratory diseases rather than a joint injury. One related pathway does exist, though: arthritis is on the VA's list of "chronic diseases." The VA's rules say a listed chronic disease that becomes at least 10 percent disabling within one year of separation from service can be presumed to be connected to service, which can remove the need to prove a direct nexus.
This is general educational information about how the VA's rules work — it is not legal advice or a VA decision about your individual claim.
Grounded in federal regulations and VA guidance, independently reviewed June 2026. Educational information, not legal advice or a VA determination.
Across 44,078 Board decisions mentioning Ankle
A denial is often not the end either — remands (shown below) are sent back for more development and can still end in a grant. These are whole-decision outcomes, not condition-specific success rates or a prediction of your case.
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These are decision-level labels in granted or partly granted decisions mentioning Ankle. They do not establish which theory succeeded for this condition.
In appeals where Ankle was the only condition decided and the Board granted it, the rating most often assigned was:
A decision may address several conditions. Its overall outcome or exposure tags do not establish what happened to each individual claim. Verify the specific issue against the original Board decision.
Browse decisions mentioning Ankle →Jump to the decisions from a specific year.
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Veterans appealing Ankle often look at outcomes for these too:
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