Abstract
End-stage ankle osteoarthritis often significantly impacts patients' quality of life.
This can be managed surgically either by ankle arthrodesis or total ankle arthroplasty
(TAA). Although ankle arthrodesis is considered by some as the standard-of-care surgical
option for this condition, it restricts range of motion and may lead to accelerated
osteoarthritis of neighboring joints. Better understanding of ankle biomechanics,
the biological effects of orthopaedic devices, and new surgical techniques have led
to significant improvements in the designs of TAAs, and over the last several decades
TAA has been used increasingly to treat patients with end-stage tibiotalar osteoarthritis.
However, complication and ultimate failure rates remain greater than those seen with
total knee and hip arthroplasty, and imaging is often critical in determining whether
a prosthesis is beginning to fail. As a result, imagers should be familiar with the
basic types of TAAs in clinical use, the normal radiographic appearances, as well
as the common complications seen with this procedure.
Keywords
ankle - tibiotalar - arthroplasty - imaging - complications
