Regardless of the method ological limitations it can be concluded that both interventions show clinical improvement and in line with current literature neither procedure is superior to the other
Background While arthrodesis is the st and ard treatment of a severely arthritic ankle joint , total ankle arthroplasty has become a popular alternative .
This review provides clinical outcomes and complications of both interventions in patients with rheumatoid arthritis .
Total ankle arthroplasty in inflammatory joint disease with use of two mobile-bearing designs.
BACKGROUND Interest in mobile-bearing total ankle arthroplasty  has increased in recent years . However , to our knowledge , no study has focused exclusively on patients with the diagnosis of inflammatory joint disease or has provided a detailed analysis of the risk factors for failure . METHODS A prospect i ve observational study of the results of cementless mobile-bearing total ankle arthroplasty  in patients with inflammatory joint disease ( mainly rheumatoid arthritis ) was conducted at two centers . Ninety-three total ankle arthroplasties were performed . The LCS ( low contact stress ) prosthesis was used initially , in nineteen ankles , between 1988 and 1992 , and a modification of the LCS prosthesis , the Buechel-Pappas design , was used in seventy-four ankles between 1993 and 1999 . Clinical and radiographic follow-up was performed at yearly intervals . Three clinical scoring systems were used , and any complication was recorded throughout follow-up . Actuarial survival ( with revision as the end point ) , multivariate analysis , and a competing risk approach were used to describe the long-term outcome . RESULTS The clinical result at one year after surgery showed a significant improvement in the scores on all three scoring systems ( p < 0.05 ) . Ankle dorsiflexion ( mean , 7 degrees ) also improved significantly ( p < 0.05 ) compared with the preoperative state . The most frequent complication was a malleolar fracture , which occurred in twenty ankles . Only when it occurred in combination with a deformity in the frontal plane did this complication have an adverse effect on the end result . At a mean follow-up of eight years , seventeen patients ( twenty-one ankles ) had died and fifteen ankles had been revised because of aseptic loosening ( six ankles ) , primary or secondary axial deformity with edge-loading ( six ankles ) , deep infection ( two ankles ) , and a severe wound-healing problem ( one ankle ) , leaving fifty-seven ankles ( 61 % ) that were evaluated . The mean overall survival rate at eight years was 84 % . An increased failure rate was encountered in ankles with a preoperative deformity in the frontal plane of > 10 degrees ( p = 0.03 ) and in ankles in which an undersized tibial component had been implanted ( p = 0.02 ) . CONCLUSIONS Mobile-bearing total ankle arthroplasty is a valid treatment option for the rheumatoid ankle if proper indications are used . Aseptic loosening and persistent deformity are the most important modes of failure
Regardless of the method ological limitations it can be concluded that both interventions show clinical improvement and in line with current literature neither procedure is superior to the other
Background While arthrodesis is the st and ard treatment of a severely arthritic ankle joint , total ankle arthroplasty has become a popular alternative .
This review provides clinical outcomes and complications of both interventions in patients with rheumatoid arthritis .