Meta-analysis of arthroscopic technique and traditional open ankle arthrodesis for the treatment of advanced ankle osteoarthritis

Background: the clinical manifestations of the late stage of ankle osteoarthritis are mainly pain and limited joint mobility, which seriously affects the patient’s quality of life. Aims: comprehensive comparison of the clinical efficacy of the arthroscopic technique and traditional open ankle arthrodesis in the treatment of advanced ankle osteoarthritis. Materials and methods: the articles were searched in the Chinese national knowledge Infrastructure, in four English databases (PubMed, Embase, Medline, and Cochrane libraries) and the Russian Scientific Electronic Library «CyberLeninka» and «elibrary». Results: all 13 articles were cohort studies. A total of 822 cases of ankle arthrodesis were performed, of which 435 cases were operated using the arthroscopic technique, and in 387 cases - traditional open surgery. In the following terms, arthroscopic techniques have shown significant benefits, including: postoperative fusion rate (P=0.007), fusion time (P