Background: Total ankle replacement (TAR) is becoming a more common alternative to ankle arthrodesis for the improvement of pain and function in end-stage arthritis of the ankle. The effects of end-stage arthritis of the ankle are similar to those of end-stage hip arthritis. There is a paucity of literature on patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) following TARs in comparison with total hip replacement (THR) or total knee replacement (TKR). We aimed to study the 1-, 3-, and 5-year outcomes of TAR in comparison with TKR and THR.
Methods: PROMs data from patients who underwent a primary THR, TKR, or TAR performed between March 2008 and 2013 over a 5-year period were collected from our hospital patient registry. They were divided into 3 groups based on the type of primary joint replacement. Patient demographics and patient-reported outcomes (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index [WOMAC], 36-item Short-Form (SF-36) scores, and patient satisfaction scores at follow-up) were compared preoperatively and at the 1-, 3-, and 5-year follow-ups.
Results: There were data available on 2672 THR, 3520 TKR, and 193 TAR patients preoperatively. Preoperatively, TAR patients reported statistically significantly higher function scores when compared with THR and TKR patients (40 vs 33; P = .001 [P < .05] and 40 vs 36; P = .001 [P < .05]). For SF-36 scores, there was no statistically significant difference between groups for the general health and role emotional components (P = .171 and .064, respectively [P > .05]); TAR patients reported similar scores to TKR patients for physical domains at the 3- and 5-year follow-ups (P > .05), and TAR patients also reported similar scores to both THR and TKR patients for the mental domains (P > .05). At 5 years postoperatively, TAR patients reported lower scores than THR and TKR patients for function and stiffness. For SF-36 scores, TAR patients reported similar outcomes to THR and TKR patients for mental health components (P > .05), similar scores to TKR patients for 3 of 4 physical domains (P < .05), but lower satisfaction rates for activities of daily living (ADL) and recreation when compared with THR (P < .05).
Conclusion: TAR patients had similar outcomes to THR and TKR patients for disease-specific and mental health domains, and lower patient satisfaction rates in terms of pain relief, ADL, and recreation. Further research is warranted including clinical outcomes along with PROMs with a long-term follow-up.
Level of evidence: Level III, retrospective comparative series.
Keywords: ankle arthroplasty; hip arthroplasty; knee arthroplasty; patient-reported outcomes.