Abstract
Total ankle replacement, a relatively controversial procedure, is technically demanding.
Over the past four years, the author has performed 52 total ankle replacements for osteoarthritis. Patients have attained a 30% to 70% increase in the range of movement. Results have been rated good to excellent in 90% of cases, although 20% of ankles took a year to settle. Immediate benefits were relief of pain and correction of deformity. The procedure required a shorter period of convalescence than arthrodesis, and the rate of morbidity was notably lower. Subsequent conversion to arthrodesis was performed in 3% of patients, and eight prostheses required revision.
The overall results prove this procedure superior to ankle arthrodesis. Once the surgical technique has been mastered, this procedure is likely to become the treatment of choice in arthritis of the ankle.
The abstracts were prepared by Professor M. B. E. Sweet. Correspondence should be addressed to him at The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Medical School, University of Witwatersrand, 7 York Road, Parktown, Johannesburg, 2193 South Africa
