What Is Ankle Fusion? - Dr. Horton (VIDEO)

Dr. Horton:
Ankle fusion or ankle arthrodesis, the medical term, refers to a welding of the ankle joint so it no longer moves, and the way that is performed is that the joint surfaces are completely removed and prepared so that the bone can basically knit to itself and freeze up the joint.

It’s very effective for pain relief and it’s a very predictable outcome in most people and it is best for that patient who is young age, has a very active lifestyle or very high-demand heavy labor occupation. That type of procedure is very effective over time.

So when an ankle fusion is performed, the surfaces of the end of the tibia and the top of the talus bone are resected; that means they are cut, scraped so that you have raw bone, and it’s important that those bone surfaces then are densely opposed to each other so that they can then heal across, similar to a fracture would heal.

So what you have then is a space that is created and that space is closed down such that the bone is then lined up vertically square so that when the foot hits the ground it’s flat.

About Dr. Horton, M.D.:
Dr. Eric R. Horton, M.D. is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon specializing in lower extremity conditions and ankle and foot reconstruction at Alvarado Orthopedic Medical Group. He has almost ten years of private practice experience in treating a wide range of adult, juvenile, and childhood orthopedic disorders including trauma, sports injuries, arthritis, leg deformities, and other musculoskeletal conditions of the body.

Visit Dr. Horton at the Alvarado Orthopedic Medical Group

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• Bones & Joints