BODYCAST - THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE CSOT Ankle
Arthroplasty Originally printed in the COA Bulletin #69, May/June 2005. Reprinted with kind permission Abstract Ankle arthroplasty has evolved from a rarely performed procedure to an acceptable option for patients with disabling end-stage ankle arthritis. The current challenges centre on indications, surgical techniques and implant design. As with hip, knee, shoulder and elbow anthroplasty, the applications of ankle joint replacement continue to expand. To fully understand our current position on ankle anthroplasty a brief review of the past is necessary. Beginning in the 1970s, approximately 23 different types of ankle arthroplasties were developed (Alive, 2000). Disappointing outcomes were largely attributed to early failure of the implant. Even if the arthroplasty survived the first two years of use, several clinical difficulties remained. First, given that the ankle joint is made up of three articular surfaces – medial, superior and lateral – persistent pain at the lateral articulation was not uncommon. Second, obtaining a functional range of ankle dorsiflexion continued to be difficult. Third, despite reports of a pain-free gait, arthoroplasties were not capable of normalizing gait kinetics or kinematics (Stauffer, Chae, &Brewster, 1977; Demottaz, mazur, Thomas, Sledge, & Simon, 1979)
This abstract is a portion of the article
which appears in the Winter 2006 issue of BodyCast. |
