Ankle arthrodesis- a 5 year review.
BACKGROUND
Painful arthrosis is the commonest indication for ankle arthrodesis. This procedure is infrequently undertaken in our centre - National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos (NOHIL), which is the biggest orthopaedic hospital in Nigeria. In order to determine its relevance to orthopaedic practice in Nigeria, we carried out a retrospective study on the indications, complications and functional outcome of ankle arthrodesis at the NOHIL, Nigeria.


METHODS
The study was a 15-year retrospective analysis of all cases of ankle arthrodesis undertaken at NOHIL. There were 58 patients that underwent ankle arthrodesis during the period 1989 to 2003. Thirty five of these with complete records and radiographic films were included in the study. Demographic data, indications, surgical techniques, complications and outcome of treatment were analysed using SPSS version 11.


RESULTS
There were 37 arthrodeses, involving 18 male and 17 female patients. The mean age was 41.4years with a mean follow-up period of 17months. The main indication for arthrodesis was posttraumatic arthrosis followed by severe acute ankle injuries. AO and Charnley compression techniques were the commonest surgical procedures employed. Eighteen (48.6%) patients had a good outcome, 10 (27.0%) patients had a fair outcome and 5 (13.5%) had a poor outcome. The outcome of the remaining 4 cases could not be ascertained as they were lost to follow up at an average of 4.6 months post surgery.


CONCLUSIONS
The commonest indication for ankle arthrodesis was post-traumatic ankle arthrosis in this study. The use of external fixation technique was the most prevalent method of achieving arthrodesis with a fusion rate of 85%. Post surgical infection was however high but a good outcome was achieved in majority of cases.
Yinusa
W
W
Department Of Orthopaedic Surgery, National Orthopaedic Hospital, PMB 2009, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria E-mail: boboyinus@yahoo.com.
Adegbite
O
O
Owoola
A
A
D000842:Ankle; D001174:Arthrodesis; D006801:Humans; D009549:Nigeria; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome