STUDY COMPARES LONG TERM OUTCOMES BETWEEN ANKLE ARTHROPLASTY AND ARTHRODESIS

Compared with patients who undergo ankle arthrodesis, patients who undergo total ankle arthroplasty had better long-term functional scores but greater revision rates, according to presented results. “End-stage ankle arthritis has been shown to have an equivalent impact on quality of life as end-stage hip arthritis; however, it is a disease in younger patients. Average age of ankle fusion is 55 [years], whereas that of total knee and total hip arthroplasty is 68 [years],” Evan M. Loewy, MD, said in his presentation at the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society Annual Meeting.

 

Loewy and colleagues performed a retrospective chart review of 198 ankles that received arthrodesis and 137 ankles that received total ankle arthroplasty (TAA) with the Scandinavian total ankle replacement (STAR) prosthesis. Primary outcome measures included the foot function index (FFI) and revision rates. Other measures included peri-operative complications, such as polyethylene fracture, and subsequent subtalar fusion for symptomatic adjacent joint arthritis.

 

Source: Max R. Wursta, Orthopedics Today [9/24/21]

Courtesy of Barry Block, editor of PM News