A mid-term follow-up study in Foot & Ankle Orthopaedics found that age and diagnosis predict outcomes of patients with total ankle implants.
The researchers identified patients who received Agility total ankle implants following arthroplasty for ankle arthritis. They followed these patients for an average of 9.1 years; they analyzed surgical outcome in conjunction with demographics like age, gender, BMI, diabetes, inflammatory arthropathy, tobacco usage and pain scores.
Here's what you need to know:
1. Of the 115 patients, 90 still had their primary implant and 25 had their implant removed.
2. Average motion across the implant was 22.3 degrees and 6.3 degrees in adjacent joints.
3. Younger, inflammatory and atraumatic arthritis patients showed higher likelihoods of revision.
4. Patients with their original implant had high levels of satisfaction, based on patient-centered outcome scores.
5. There was no correlation between radiographic appearance of the implant and patient satisfaction.