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Updated: Mar 12, 2026
Treatment of Ankle Osteoarthritis with Total Ankle Replacement Through a Lateral Transfibular Approach
Published on: January 24, 2018
Total ankle replacement through a lateral approach: surgical tips
Federico Giuseppe Usuelli1, Cristian Indino1, Camilla Maccario2
1CASCO, IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi, via Riccardo Galeazzi 4, 20161 Milan, Italy.
Purpose:
Recently, the Zimmer Trabecular Metal Total Ankle Replacement (Zimmer TM TAR) was developed to be used through a lateral transfibular approach. The purpose of this paper is to describe the surgical technique and early outcomes of the TAR via the lateral approach using the Zimmer TM TARs.
Methods:
Sixty-seven patients underwent primary TAR using the Zimmer TM TAR between May 2013 and May 2015. Patients were clinically evaluated preoperatively and postoperatively at six and twelve months and annually using the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle and hindfoot scores, visual analogue scale (VAS) pain score, and the Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) questionnaire. The minimum follow-up was 12 months.
Results:
The mean AOFAS hindfoot score increased from 32.8 preoperatively to 85.0 at the latest follow-up (p-value < 0.001). The mean VAS pain score decreased from 8.0 to 2.0 at the latest follow-up (p-value < 0.001). The Physical and Mental Health Composite Scale scores (PCS and MCS) of the SF-12 passed from a mean value of 30.2 preoperatively to 43.1 (p-value < 0.001) and from a mean value of 44.6 to 53.5 at the latest follow-up (p-value < 0.001), respectively.
Conclusions:
We present our surgical tips and the early results of this prosthetic design which are encouraging. They could be useful as an adjunct to the manufacturer's surgical technique guidance for surgeons who utilize these implants.
