Trends in the use of ankle arthrodesis and total ankle replacements in Australia over the past 20 years

• Published in: European journal of orthopaedic surgery & traumatology Vol. 34; no. 4; pp. 1997 - 2001
• Main Authors: Yasutomi, Motofumi, An, Vincent V. G., Xu, Joshua, Wines, Andrew, Sivakumar, Brahman S., Symes, Michael J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Paris Springer Paris 01.05.2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Ankle; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Original Article; Surgery; Surgical Orthopedics; Traumatic Surgery; Trends; Australia; Total ankle replacement; Ankle arthrodesis; Medicare; Population study; Ankle arthritis
• ISSN: 1432-1068; 1633-8065; 1432-1068
• DOI: 10.1007/s00590-024-03884-z

Background End stage ankle osteoarthritis (OA) is debilitating. Surgical management consists of either ankle arthrodesis (AA) or a total ankle replacement (TAR). The purpose of this study is to assess the trends in operative intervention for end stage ankle OA in an Australian population. Methods This is a retrospective epidemiological study of 15,046 surgeries. Data were collected from publicly available national registries including the Australian Medicare Database and Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registrar from 2001 to 2020. Results There was a significant increase in all ankle surgeries performed across the period of interest. AA remained the more commonly performed procedure throughout the course of the study (11,946 cases, 79.4%) and was never surpassed by TAR (3100, 20.6%). The overall proportions demonstrated no significant changes from 2001 to 2020. Conclusion The incidence of ankle surgeries continues to increase with the ageing and increasingly comorbid population of Australia. Despite demonstrating no significant overall change in the ratio of TAR and AA in our study population and period, there are noticeable trends within the timeframe, with a recent surge favouring TAR in the last 5 years.