Ankle replacement shows promise for older people with severe ankle arthritis

People over 70 years old who have end-stage ankle arthritis enjoy improvements in function after total ankle replacement that are similar to those seen in people in their fifties, experts claimed at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons.
A research team compared outcomes in 21 older people and 21 younger people who had ankle replacement operations. In all cases, the procedure was performed by the same surgeon. Gait analysis – ie an assessment of how each person walked – was recorded before and after the operation.
Similar improvements were seen in younger and older people.
Joint replacements in the hip and knee have been studied for decades. They are now very successful and often seen as routine operations. Ankle replacements, however, are relatively new and we do not have much long-term information about how successful it is as an operation. The current study adds weight to data showing that although ankle replacement surgery may be relatively new, it’s generally very successful and looks set to become much more common as our population ages.
Guest author Peter Rosenfeld, a consultant foot and ankle surgeon at the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and the Fortius Clinic, discusses the procedure in depth in the next issue of Arthritis Digest magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Image credit: Droid Gingerbread