Total ankle arthroplasty (TAA) is known to be a reliable operative option for end-stage rheumatoid arthritis. However, higher risk of postoperative complications related to chronic inflammation and immunosuppressive treatment is still a concern. With the use of a newer prosthesis and modification of anti-rheumatic medications, we compared clinical outcomes after TAA between patients with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Forty-five patients with end-stage osteoarthritis (OA group) and 19 with rheumatoid arthritis (RA group) were followed for more than 3 years after 3 component mobile-bearing TAA (Zenith
In the preoperative and postoperative evaluation at final follow-up, there were no significant differences in AOFAS, FAOS, and FAAM scores between 2 groups. Despite statistical similarity in total scores, the OA group showed significantly better scores in FAOS sports and leisure (mean, 57.4 ± 10.1) and FAAM sports activity (mean, 62.5 ± 13.6) subscales than those in the RA group (mean, 52.2 ± 9.8, 
Level III, prognostic, prospective comparative study.
Patients with end-stage ankle RA had clinical outcomes comparable to the patients with OA, except for the ability related to sports activities. In addition, there were no significant differences in early postoperative complication rates, including wound problem and infection.