Abstract
Total ankle replacement was performed for 7 ankles of 6 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. All but one patient had previously had arthroplastic surgery on some other weight-bearing joint. The average follow-up period was 2 years and 9 months. Relief of pain was obtained for all but one patient, who had severe valgus deformity on the ipsilateral knee. Arc of motion was increased from 24 degrees to 30 degrees, on average. The range of motion required for normal level walking, however, was obtained for three ankles only. The gain in ROM was observed to be related to the improvement in walking ability. The ROM of the patients' tibio-talar joints seems to play a significant role in their walking ability. In follow-up x-rays, radiolucent lines were observed in 3 ankles: 1 on the tibial and 2 on the talar. Sinking of components was observed on 3 ankles: 1 on the tibia and 2 on the talus. Sinking of components seemed to correlate to the extent of bony involvement of the tibio-talar joint before surgery. There was no relation between the x-ray findings and clinical results.
