Total Talar Prosthesis Replacement after Talar Extrusion

Dislocation of the talus is a serious and extremely rare injury, with 86 cases reported in the published data in 20 years. The reference standard for case management involves replacement of the dislocated talus to restore the height and function of the tibiotalar joint. The risk of avascular necrosis remains very high, and the standard treatment in such cases is tibiotalar arthrodesis. We report the case of total dislocation of the talus, which was treated with the insertion of a custom total talar prosthesis affixed directly to the tibial cartilage at 6 months after injury. At the 2-year follow-up point, the preliminary results were rather encouraging, with well-functioning activity and an improved American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society foot function scale score increasing from 11 to 77 of 100 and a Short-Form 36-item Health Survey score increasing from 17 to 82. Much longer follow-up periods are necessary to evaluate longer term trends.