Arthroscopic ankle arthrodesis for hemophilic arthropathy: two cases report

In the second decade of life, the ankle joint can be considered as the most common site for haemophilic arthropathy. To the best of our knowledge, no detailed reports have been published regarding arthroscopic ankle arthrodesis with haemophilic arthropathy. The aim of this paper is to report the outcomes of arthroscopic ankle arthrodesis in haemophilic arthropathy of the hindfoot. We performed three arthroscopic ankle arthrodeses in two patients. Case 1 was a 26-year-old man and case 2 was a 25-year-old man. The follow-up periods ranged from 2 year and 4 months to 6 years and one month. Union was obtained in all three ankles. All the arthroscopic ankle arthrodeses stopped or significantly reduced recurrent joint bleeding. With our procedure, we achieved pain relief and walking ability improvement. The mean American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot scale scores were 39 (range: 32-52) points preoperatively and 80 (range: 74-92) points postoperatively. Our cases achieved high satisfaction levels with pain relief and minimal complications for arthroscopic ankle arthrodesis, and case 2 who originally underwent arthroscopic arthrodesis of the left ankle demanded the same operation for his right ankle. We consider that arthroscopic ankle arthrodesis is an effective technique for haemophilic arthropathy.