Background
Painful ankle arthrosis is a challenging orthopedic problem. Ankle arthrodesis is deemed to be the treatment of choice for painful ankle arthrosis that failed to respond to conservative management. The arthroscopic technique in ankle arthrodesis revealed a better pain control during the postoperative period, less morbidity, a faster return to a normal life after rehabilitation, and reduced costs compared with open arthrodesis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the functional outcomes of arthroscopic ankle arthrodesis (AAA) using the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) score of the heel and hind foot.
Patients and methods
A total of 31 patients with advanced ankle arthrosis underwent AAA, comprising 20 (64.5%) male patients and 11 (35.5%) female patients. The mean age of the patients was 31.74 (range: 18–54) years. The right ankle joint was involved in 18 (58.1%) patients, whereas the left ankle was affected in 13 (41.9%) cases. Moreover, 27 (87.1%) patients had post-traumatic ankle arthrosis, whereas four (12.9%) patients had postseptic ankle arthrosis. Functional assessment was done at 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery using the AOFAS score of the heel and hind foot.
Results
The mean follow-up period was 12.87 (range: 12–16) months. The mean operative time was 87.9 (range: 75–120)min. The mean AOFAS score of the heel and hind foot improved significantly from 39.71 (range: 17–65) preoperative to 82.61 (range: 57–92) points at the final follow-up period. Ankle joint fusion was accomplished in 28 (90.3%) patients after a mean time interval of 9.32 (range: 8–12) weeks.
Conclusion
AAA proved to be a successful and safe method of treatment in resistant end-stage ankle arthrosis with satisfactory functional outcomes.