Females report higher postoperative pain scores than males after ankle surgery.

•Severe postoperative pain is reported to be a predictor of persistent pain.•We therefore studied pain after ankle fracture operations in the postanaesthetic care unit (PACU).•We focused on possible predictors of at least moderate pain, i.e. ≥4 on a 0–10 Verbal Numeric Rating Scale (vNRS).•Being female was a statistically significant predictor of pain ≥4/10 in the PACU after ankle operations.•These were not predictors: age, weight, smoking, time to operation, types of fracture, anaesthesia, operation, or tourniquet inflation.