Does Concurrent Distal Tibiofibular Joint Arthrodesis Affect the Nonunion and Complication Rates of Tibiotalar Arthrodesis?

Abstract

Category: Ankle Introduction/Purpose: Tibiotalar arthrodesis is generally a successful treatment option for patients with end stage ankle arthritis. However, there is a 9% risk of nonunion in patients undergoing primary tibiotalar arthrodesis. To date, it is unclear whether concurrent distal tibio-fibular joint arthrodesis affects this nonunion rate as there have been no studies directly comparing patients with and without arthrodesis of the distal tibio-fibular joint. The purpose of this clinical study is to compare the rate of nonunion in patients with a distal tibio-fibular fusion to those without a distal tibio-fibular fusion in the setting of a primary, open ankle arthrodesis. The hypothesis of this study was that the addition of a distal tibio-fibular fusion would decrease the nonunion rate in patients undergoing open ankle arthrodesis. Methods: This is a retrospective review of 521 consecutive patients from October 2002 to April 2016. 366 ankles from 354 unique patients met inclusion criteria. All patients underwent primary, open tibiotalar arthrodesis. 250 patients underwent open tibiotalar arthrodesis with a distal tibio-fibular fusion and 116 patients underwent open tibiotalar arthrodesis without a distal tibio-fibular fusion. Age, gender, body mass index, smoking, and preoperative radiographic deformity were controlled. The primary outcome measure was nonunion rate of tibiotalar arthrodesis. Secondary outcome measures were time to union, rate of wound complications, and rate of development of post-operative deep vein thrombosis (DVT)/Pulmonary embolism (PE). Results: Average age of the patients was 56.2 +/- 14.2 years. Mean follow-up time was 33.8 months. Unions were assessed on routine post-operative radiographs and by clinical examination. If there was a concern for nonunion, computerized tomography scan was utilized for further assessment. Nonunion rate of patients who had the distal tibio-fibular joint included was 19/250 (8%) and nonunion rate of those who did not have the distal tibio-fibular joint fused was 14/116 (12%) (p=0.16). There was no significant difference between those who had the distal tibio-fibular joint included versus who did not in wound complication rate (27% vs 31%, p=0.40), time to union (4.9 weeks versus 5 weeks, p =0.54), and DVT/PE rate (5% vs 3%, p=0.41), respectively [Table 1]. There were no major complications. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first study directly comparing nonunion rates and complication rates in patients who underwent primary, open ankle arthrodesis with and without distal tibio-fibular joint arthrodesis. In this study, inclusion of the distal tibio-fibular joint in tibiotalar arthrodesis does not affect nonunion rate in patients undergoing primary, open ankle arthrodesis. Additionally, inclusion of the distal tibio-fibular joint does not affect rate of wound complication, time to union, and DVT/PE rate.