title: Ankle joint distraction arthroplasty: why and how?
abstract: For select patients, distraction ankle arthroplasty may be a promising treatment approach for ankle osteoarthritis; however, there is still limited literature addressing its efficacy and clinical long-term results. In this article, the literature regarding the outcome after ankle distraction arthroscopy is reviewed, the indications and contraindication for this procedure are listed, our surgical technique is described, and our preliminary results with this procedure are presented.
authors.affiliation: Orthopaedic Department, University Hospital of Basel, University of Basel, Spitalstrasse 21, Basel CH-4031, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Alexej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barg
authors.forename: Annunziato
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amendola
authors.forename: Douglas N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Beaman
authors.forename: Charles L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Saltzman
mesh_terms: D000843:Ankle Joint / Q000601:surgery*; D001178:Arthroplasty / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Ankle joint distraction arthroplasty; Ankle osteoarthritis; Fixed distraction of the joint; Joint-preserving treatment; Motion distraction of the joint