Fusion will limit the motion of your ankle. There are three main ankle joints. You should ask your surgeon several questions...
Will you have one or more joints fused now?
If not a full fusion (triple arthrodesis) now, will you need to return in future year(s) for additional fusions?
Will you need any of the bones in your foot fused or reconfigured (called an osteotomy) because of the ankle fusions?
Ask your Dr/surgeon how these fusions will effect your activity level? Pain after vs pain now? What is the recovery time? How likely are you to need revisions or repairs?
The ankle fusions will leave you with an ankle that will not flex. The more joints of your ankle that are fused, the more immobile. Triple Arthrodesis would completely fuse your ankle. If you are active, or hope to ever be, an ankle fusion will significantly effect how active you can be.
I faced multiple limb salvage procedures, first a double osteotomy and tendon transfer, and following that by a year or more (depending on how quickly I recovered) a second procedure for ankle fusion - likely a triple arth. Each of these two salvage ops carried a year, maybe more of recovery (back to full weight bearing). Each would leave me with more scar tissue and likely more pain. And they left me with no hope of getting back any of my once active lifestyle. Since my foot/ankle were the only thing holding me back, I chose amputation, Ertl Procedure. With this and a prosthetic, I'll get hiking, biking, and maybe a little running, tennis, and racquetball.
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Fusion will limit the motion of your ankle. There are three main ankle joints. You should ask your surgeon several questions...
Will you have one or more joints fused now?
If not a full fusion (triple arthrodesis) now, will you need to return in future year(s) for additional fusions?
Will you need any of the bones in your foot fused or reconfigured (called an osteotomy) because of the ankle fusions?
Ask your Dr/surgeon how these fusions will effect your activity level? Pain after vs pain now? What is the recovery time? How likely are you to need revisions or repairs?
The ankle fusions will leave you with an ankle that will not flex. The more joints of your ankle that are fused, the more immobile. Triple Arthrodesis would completely fuse your ankle. If you are active, or hope to ever be, an ankle fusion will significantly effect how active you can be.
I faced multiple limb salvage procedures, first a double osteotomy and tendon transfer, and following that by a year or more (depending on how quickly I recovered) a second procedure for ankle fusion - likely a triple arth. Each of these two salvage ops carried a year, maybe more of recovery (back to full weight bearing). Each would leave me with more scar tissue and likely more pain. And they left me with no hope of getting back any of my once active lifestyle. Since my foot/ankle were the only thing holding me back, I chose amputation, Ertl Procedure. With this and a prosthetic, I'll get hiking, biking, and maybe a little running, tennis, and racquetball.
February 15, 2017 - 3:46pmThis Comment
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