Ankle Fusion (Subscribe)  

A systematic review of intermediate and long-term outcomes for total ankle replacement found excellent or good results in 82% of cases who received a second-generation ankle device compared to 72% of cases treated with ankle fusion. In addition, total ankle replacement resulted in a lower revision rate than fusion, according to...

“Significant uncertainty exists about the proper role of ankle arthroplasty in the treatment of ankle arthritis,� said Nelson Fong SooHoo, MD, of the UCLA Center for Surgical Outcomes and Quality, who presented the results of a study comparing the reoperation rates of ankle arthrodesis and ankle replacement during the American...

An interview with Jonathan T. Deland, MD
This “end stage� arthritis results in pain, combined with loss of function and mobility - severely limiting normal activity. When this end stage is reached and non-operative options (such as medication, injections, and bracing) have been exhausted, patients are presented with three methods of...

In an investigation called "revolutionary" by American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) Immediate Past President Robert B. Anderson, MD, researchers found better function with total ankle replacement compared to ankle fusion in a 2-year prospective controlled trial using an uncemented, mobile-bearing total ankle device.
Prospective study of a TAR device...

Discussion of the outcome and factors affecting the result of ankle fusion.

We have reviewed the results of 30 ankle arthrodeses performed on 26 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. This procedure was associated with a high morbidity, with wound breakdown and infection occurring in 12 cases. Eighteen ankles had fused, six had pain-free fibrous union, and six required further surgery for nonunion. Clinical...

The treatment of nonreconstructable tibial pilon fractures for which the optimal timing for reduction and fixation has been missed is challenging. Ankle arthrodesis may be a treatment option in such cases. We treated 2 patients with nonreconstructable tibial pilon fractures using ankle arthrodesis with an antegrade intramedullary nail. Our method...

Notes on indications, workup, techniques and complications

Conclusions. Our results demonstrate that ankle/hindfoot arthrodesis in RA is an effective intervention to reduce pain and to improve Health Related Quality of Life and functional ability. Moreover, the overlying leg joints experience an improvement in joint motion, muscle-generated joint moments and work during walking. Three-dimensional gait analysis may assist...

Indications
Traumatic arthritis
Avascular necrosis of body of talus (post traumatic)
Infectious arthritis
Equinus deformity not treatable by bracing
Osteoathritis or Rheumatoid arthritis of ankle
Salvage of failed TAR

Ankle arthritis differs from that of the hip and knee in that it is most commonly caused by traumatic injury (rather than degeneration or inflammation) and predominantly affects younger males.
• Ankle fusion is a well-established treatment that can improve pain but does so at a loss of motion of the ankle. It doesn’t...

The present series represents the longest follow-up study of ankle arthrodesis to date. Our cohort of patients all had isolated post-traumatic ankle arthritis, and each underwent a successful isolated ankle arthrodesis. At a mean of twenty-two years, the majority of the patients had substantial, and accelerated, arthritic changes in the...

A retrograde nail with posterior-to-anterior (PA) locking into os calcis, talus and tibia was used to correct deformity and achieve fusion after failed fusion. A variety of methods have been published to achieve union of the ankle and subtalar joint in a failed fusion situation. We have studied a retrograde...

Sixty-patient open-label study shows promise for bone graft substitute.
Alastair S. Younger, MD, FRCSC, and colleagues prospectively studied 60 patients who underwent a combined 180 foot or ankle fusions aided with recombinant human platelet-derived growth factor in a tricalcium phosphate matrix (Augment Bone Graft, formerly GEM OS1; BioMimetic) and were followed...

Tibiotalar fusion remains the mainstay of surgical treatment for end-stage arthritis of the ankle joint. Pseudoarthrosis may occur for a variety of reasons including concomitant medical illness, previous high energy trauma, sepsis, technical failure, inadequate bone stock and noncompliance. The rate of pseudoarthrosis after ankle arthrodesis has been reported to...