You have ankle arthritis and it is bad. You have had arthroscopes, and cleaning out operations and physical therapy and you have exhausted all of it. Now you need to have surgery, and the question is should I get an ankle replacement or an ankle fusion. You hear horror and success stories about both. Do not google or read message boards; those people are not you. Here are five questions to ask before having ankle replacement surgery:
1. Am I a good candidate to have my ankle replaced? One of the reasons ankle replacement surgery can fail, is the person is not a good choice to have the procedure done. How do you know if you are a good choice? Well, is your arthritis bad enough that a scope or clean out operation can no longer help, and do you have the bone stock necessary to heal the ankle implant. Those are questions only your surgeon can answer. But, if you are obese, smoke, over the age of 65 or under the age of 30, getting your ankle replaced is a bad idea. Why under the age of 30? The ankle implants have not shown to hold up for over 20 years, and replacing an implant is a nightmare of a surgical procedure.
2. What are the risks? You need to know the risks and what you are agreeing to. Infection is a risk, and the ankle implant failing is a risk. Once this procedure fails then you are looking at a removal of the implant with bone grafts to fuse the ankle, and that is a difficult operation. Make sure you are aware of the risks.
3. How many has the surgeon done? Ankle replacements need an experienced surgeon. Do not think just because your surgeon is young that he is inexperienced. If your surgeon did 30 ankle replacements in residency, you would rather have him than the older surgeon who just went to a seminar on it. There is a steep learning curve with ankle replacement. Make sure your surgeon has experience.
4. Is there anything else I can do to avoid having the ankle replaced? This is a salvage last chance surgical procedure. You do not want to have your ankle replaced, if you do not have too. There are many treatments of ankle arthritis available: physical therapy and braces, injections or other joint cleaning procedures. Here are a couple braces that you should probably try before the procedure
5. What is the schedule after the ankle replacement. You need to know and your surgeon should have a set schedule. How many days in the hospital? When do you start walking? When do you start physical therapy? If your surgeon does not have a schedule already planned for you, get a new surgeon.
I hope this article helped you decide about getting your ankle replaced. Good luck.