RESEARCH ARTICLE
Tibiotalar Arthrodesis Using a Hybrid Technique with a New Low-profile Anatomic Plate and Two Compression Screws: First One-year Results of Twenty Patients
Christoph Eckstein1, Bernd Füchtmeier1, Franz Müller1, *
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2019Volume: 13
First Page: 232
Last Page: 238
Publisher ID: TOORTHJ-13-232
DOI: 10.2174/1874325001913010232
Article History:
Received Date: 01/09/2019Revision Received Date: 07/12/2019
Acceptance Date: 20/12/2019
Electronic publication date: 31/12/2019
Collection year: 2019
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background:
The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate and analyse the first clinical results of a recently developed low-profile anatomic plate in combination with two headless compression screws for tibiotalar arthrodesis.
Methods:
The case series involved 20 consecutive patients who underwent ankle arthrodesis using a hybrid technique. Radiographs were obtained at 6 and 12 weeks and 1 year postoperatively. The outcome was evaluated by using AOFAS and SF 12-questionnaire. Any complications related to the arthrodesis were recorded.
Results:
The follow-up rate was 100%. Patients mean age at the time of surgery was 60.1 years (range, 40-79). Arthrodesis with full weight-bearing occurred in every patient within 12 weeks postoperatively. There were no patients with delayed union, non-union, infection or implant failure. AOFAS Score and SF-12 scores increased considerably compared to preoperatively.
Conclusion:
The hybrid technique for ankle arthrodesis is a tibiotalar compression with screws in combination with rigid anterior plate fixation. Our clinical results demonstrated no implant failure, no infection and fusion in any of the 20 patients. Further studies are necessary to support our first results.