What is it about?
This paper is a comprehensive overview of the outcomes of ankle replacement for the treatment of end stage ankle arthritis. The paper discusses complications of surgery as well as long term functional outcomes like range of motion, patient satisfaction and X-ray appearances. This paper covers over 7000 implants which makes it the largest review to date.
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Why is it important?
Osteoarthritis (OA) of the ankle is a disabling condition that affects a patient’s quality of life as much as arthritis of the hip and congestive heart failure. The most common cause is post trauma meaning a severe sprain (or repeated sprains) or an ankle fracture both of which are increasing in frequency. As such the burden of ankle arthritis will only increase necessitating new treatments such as ankle replacement.
Perspectives
This study demonstrates that ankle replacement has a positive impact on patients’ lives, with benefits lasting ten years, as judged by improvement in pain and function, as well as improved gait and increased range of movement However the quality of evidence is weak and fraught with biases and high quality randomised controlled trials are required to compare ankle replacement with other forms of treatment such as ankle fusion.
Andrew Goldberg
UCL
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The outcome of total ankle replacement: A systematic review and meta-analysis, The Bone & Joint Journal, October 2013, Bone & Joint,
DOI: 10.1302/0301-620x.95b11.31633.
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