Results of total ankle replacement in the short and midterm follow-up period

Introduction: In recent decades, with the advent of new models of endoprostheses, total ankle replacement has become increasingly recognized as a treatment for patients with osteoarthritis of the ankle. The aim of this work was to analyze the results of ankle replacement in the short and mid-term period. Materials and methods: The paper analyzes results of the treatment of patients with the end-stage osteoarthritis of the ankle in the Federal Center in Barnaul during 2013-2019. All implantations were performed by one surgeon. 91 patients underwent endoprosthetics of the ankle joint (92 joints). 72 patients with the follow-up periods of over 12 months after the procedure were available for a retrospective analysis with the assessment of results. There were 49 women and 23 men, with the mean age of 55. Upon admission, 53 patients were diagnosed with post-traumatic osteoarthritis, 16 with idiopathic osteoarthritis and three with rheumatoid joint damage. The mean follow-up period is 44 months (16-80). Intraoperative and postoperative complications as well as repeated and revision operations were evaluated. Results: Evaluation of the functional results on the scales (VAS and AOFAS) showed a significant improvement in parameters of the postoperative period compared to the preoperative survey (P <0.05). According to the VAS scale, the mean values decreased from 6.8 (5-10) points in the preoperative period to 1.5 (0-6) points. On the AOFAS scale, there was an increase from 32.3 (7-60) to 78.1 (20-100). The mean values of the dorsal and plantar flexion improved from 2.4 ± 0.8 (-15-15) to 8.1 ± 0.6 (0-20) degrees and 12.4 ± 1.0 (0-30) to 17.1 ± 1.2 (5-45) degrees, respectively. Conclusions: comparing the data we obtained with the data presented by domestic and foreign authors, we can conclude that the method of endoprosthetics of the ankle joint is quite successfully used in the treatment of the end-stage osteoarthritis of the ankle. Despite the limited time of observation, publication of this work is relevant. Analysis of the results makes it possible to broaden indications for endoprosthetics of the ankle joint, including patients with additional deformities.