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Management of early ankle osteoarthritis through anterior joint-preserving surgery: a retrospective evaluation at mid- to long-term follow-up

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A Correction to this article was published on 24 June 2020

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Abstract

Purpose

Chronic anterior ankle pain is a recognized and straightforward characteristic of anterior impingement syndrome. This retrospective study aims to evaluate outcomes, clinical and radiological results in patients affected by anterior ankle impingement, in a context of early osteoarthritis, and treated with mini-open anterior ankle arthrolysis, in the perspective to delay or avoid other demolitive surgical options, such as total ankle replacement and joint fusion.

Methods

In total, 49 patients (50 feet, mean age 45 years) undergone mini-open anterior ankle arthrolysis for anterior impingement, fulfilled inclusion criteria and gave their consent and have been enlisted in the study. Patients were retrospectively reviewed with AOFAS ankle-hindfoot score and SF-36 score at a minimum follow-up of 36 months. Statistical analysis was performed.

Results

A marked improvement was noticed in terms of preoperative clinical score (mean AOFAS score 47.32 ± 17.89) compared to follow-up clinical score (mean AOFAS score 70.66 ± 16.62; p < 0.005), and all of 8 SF-36 domains showed statistically improved (p < 0.05) from preoperative to follow-up. Statistical significance has been shown.

Conclusions

It is possible to consider the mini-open anterior arthrolysis, thanks to the reduction of the painful symptomatology, a valid tool for procrastinating more invasive interventions such as arthrodesis or prosthetic replacement in patients with grade 1 or 2 of ankle osteoarthritis.

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Change history

  • 24 June 2020

    The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake. The spelling of the ‘Francesco Ceccarelli’ name was incorrect.

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Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. II Clinic of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Via Pupilli 1, 40136, Bologna, Italy

    Massimiliano Mosca, Silvio Caravelli, Mario Fuiano, Simone Massimi, Alberto Grassi & Stefano Zaffagnini

  2. Clinica Ortopedica, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Parma, Parma, Italy

    Danila Oldani, Laura Rossi & Francesco Ceccarelli

Authors
  1. Massimiliano Mosca
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  2. Silvio Caravelli
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  3. Mario Fuiano
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  4. Simone Massimi
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  5. Danila Oldani
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  6. Laura Rossi
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  7. Alberto Grassi
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  8. Stefano Zaffagnini
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  9. Francesco Ceccarelli
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Correspondence to Silvio Caravelli.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Ethical approval

All patients were informed about the surgical procedure, postoperative treatment and possible complications and signed a written informed consent. The study was conducted according to the Declaration of Helsinki and after the ethical committee approval.

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The original version of this article was revised: The spelling of the ‘Francesco Ceccarelli’ name was incorrect.

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Mosca, M., Caravelli, S., Fuiano, M. et al. Management of early ankle osteoarthritis through anterior joint-preserving surgery: a retrospective evaluation at mid- to long-term follow-up. Eur J Orthop Surg Traumatol 30, 1171–1178 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00590-020-02691-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00590-020-02691-6

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