To compare the effectiveness of arthroscopic and open ankle arthrodeses.
The clinical data were retrospectively analyzed from 30 patients undergoing unilateral ankle arthrodesis between January 2008 and January 2011. Of 30 patients, 14 underwent arthroscopic ankle arthrodesis (arthroscopic group), and 16 underwent open ankle arthrodesis (open group). There was no significant difference in gender, age, lesion type, disease duration, and preoperative American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) score between 2 groups (P > 0.05). The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative hospitalization days, postoperative AOFAS score, and bony union rate were observed to evaluate the effectiveness.
The operation time of arthroscopic group was significantly longer than that of open group (P < 0.05); the intraoperative blood loss and postoperative hospitalization days of arthroscopic group were significantly less than those of open group (P < 0.05). Superficial infection of incision occurred in 1 case of open group, and healing of incision by first intention was obtained in the other patients. All patients were followed up 12 months. No screw breakage was observed. The X-ray films showed bony fusion in 13 cases (92.86%) of arthroscopic group and in 10 cases (62.50%) of open group at 3 months after operation, showing significant difference (chi2 = 3.850, P = 0.049); but no significant difference was found (chi2 = 0.910, P = 0.341) in bony fusion rate between the arthroscopic group (14/14, 100%) and open group (15/16, 93.75%) at 12 months after operation. The AOFAS scores at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after operation were significantly higher than preoperative score in 2 groups (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in AOFAS score between 2 groups at 1 and 3 months (P > 0.05), but significant differences were found at 6 and 12 months (P < 0.05).
The overall effectiveness of arthroscopic ankle arthrodesis is better than that of open ankle arthrodesis, which can decrease intraoperative blood loss, shorten hospitalization days, get