Transfibular ankle arthrodesis: A novel method for ankle fusion - A short term retrospective study

Background: Ankle arthrodesis has long been the traditional operative treatment for posttraumatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, infection, neuromuscular conditions, and salvage of failed ankle arthroplasty. It remains the treatment of choice for patients in whom heavy and prolonged activity is anticipated. We present our short term followup study of functional outcome of patients who underwent transfibular ankle arthrodesis for arthritis of ankle due to various indications. Materials and Methods: 29 transfibular ankle arthrodesis in 29 patients performed between April 2009 and April 2014 were included in this study. The mean age was 50 years (range 22-75 years). The outcome analysis with a minimum of 1-year postoperative followup were included. All the patients were assessed with the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) Hindfoot scale. Results: All cases of ankle fusions (100%) progressed to solid union in a mean postoperative duration of 3.8 months (range 3-6 months). All patients had sound arthrodesis. The mean followup period was 32.52 months (standard deviation 10.34). The mean AOFAS score was 74 (pain score = 32, functional score = 42). We found that twenty patients (68.96%) out of 29, had excellent results, 7 (24.13%) had good, and 2 (6.89%) showed fair results. Conclusion: Transfibular ankle arthrodesis is a simple and effective procedure for ankle arthritis. It achieves a high rate of union and good functional outcome on midterm followup.