Ankle Fusion

Does anyone have an issue with their knee not being in the right position? It is facing outward like my ankle. Having Fusion on the 5th and just wondering if he is going to address this issue as well.

What about bone grafting options? My mother in law has been referred for ankle fusion and a well known doctor in NYC said he was going to do autograft, that is harvest bone from her iliac crest/hip bone. While this had been the gold standard for many years, there are now many bone graft substitutes available that work just as well and don't have all of the negative side effects of a second surgery site. Many other orthopedic fusion procedures are moving away from hip bone harvesting to new technologies such as synthetic bone grafts. Why isn't this happening in foot & ankle?????

Supramalleolar osteotomy is an alternative to ankle fusion for some people. It has the advantage of retaining joint motion, unlike fusion surgery. I had this procedure performed 4 weeks ago, along with a general clean out of all the arthritic junk in my ankle and reconstruction of the lax ligament that led me to develop the arthritis in the first place.

As I understand it, fusion is currently the gold standard treatment, mostly because it is excellent for pain relief and has relatively few immediate complications. Over time, however, many people develop arthritis in adjacent parts of the foot and ankle because of the way they compensate for the restricted movement of the ankle post-fusion. At 50 years old and with a very active life-style (hiking, biking, strength training, yoga) I feared the limitations of a fused ankle and what seemed like the inevitable development of additional arthritis. I was lucky enough to find a surgeon who knew of alternatives to joint fusion.

Not everyone is a candidate for an osteotomy. In my case, there was still healthy cartilage in part of the joint. The procedure involves cutting a wedge out of the tibia to open up the joint space and redistribute weight onto the remaining healthy part of the joint. According to my doctor and studies that I read, this procedure can provide long-term pain relief and retains joint motion. It may or may not be the last procedure I need, but at a minimum, it buys time for there to be advances in the treatment of ankle arthritis, especially for total ankle replacement to improve.

I'm only a month into the process and am still non-weight bearing ( in a boot), so I can't say how it all will turn out. Still, I wanted to let people know that there are surgical alternatives to fusion in some cases.

Hi all. I am 6 months post and still walk ridiculously..I had my fusion in Scotland while I was finishing my Masters Degree. I had a sponatneous AVN which is rare with no other ankle trauma and had one surgery in 4/2007 which was a talus drilling to try to stop the bone from dying by increasing the blood flood, the surgery did stop bone loss but the pain was still extremely bad 24 hours a day..18 months later I had my fusion.
I am wondering what types of physical therapy you all have had post-op and do you find that walking becomes more "normal" the further you get post-op?? Any tricks that you further out healing-wise have found that work for you??

I am scheduled for surgery on August 5th. Don't know any details yet - I will know everything on August the third when I go in after my pre-op appointment at the hospital I will go over to his office and we will discuss the details and how everything will work. I do know it is in-patient surgery and am approved for 3 days of hospital stay.

I had my ankle fused in April 2009, and I am finally cleared to walk. It was only 6 1/2 after my surgery that I was 98% completely healed. I am extremely pleased with the surgery so far. The next test will be when I get the boot off in 2 days and get to walk with just my shoe.

Has anyone had prolotherapy injections done? If so, please let me know about your experience.