Total ankle replacement

29 patients underwent 30 Scandinavian Total Ankle Replacements (STAR) by a single surgeon, over a four year period (1997 to 2001). There were 12 primary osteo arthritic patients with 6 post traumatic. The mean age of these 18 patients was 73. Eleven patients had rheumatoid arthritis and these had a mean age of 58 years at the time of surgery. One patient had bilateral replacements giving a total of 30 prostheses inserted. On review dorsiflexion had increased from a mean of 7 to 11 degrees while plantar flexion from 15 to 24 degrees. The American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle hindfoot score was 95 (maximum 100) and the Kofoed ankle score revealed 17 excellent, 5 good and 4 fair. No patients had radiological evidence of loosening. Our intermediate term result for the STAR (W. Link GmbH & Co., Hamburg, Germany) ankle replacement has yielded 90% excellent and good functional outcomes in a mixed osteo arthritic and rheumatoid population which mirrors the results of those published from Scandinavia.