Long-term Autograft Harvest Site Pain After Ankle and Hindfoot Arthrodesis

Pain following autograft harvest has been studied; however, published literature has typically focused on the iliac crest with follow-up limited to only a few years. It remains unknown if pain continues or improves over time. The purpose of this study was to evaluate long-term pain associated with autograft harvest to supplement hindfoot or ankle arthrodesis.

Subjects in the control arm of a previously conducted trial comparing autograft with a synthetic bone graft for hindfoot or ankle arthrodesis were invited back for a single visit at a minimum of 5 years following their initial surgery. Harvest site, fusion site, and weight-bearing pain were evaluated using a 100-point visual analog scale (VAS). Of the 130 invited subjects, 60 (46.1%) returned for assessment, 58 of whom completed pain assessments.

At a mean follow-up of 9.0 years (range, 7.8-10.5), more than a third (36.6%) of subjects had some level of harvest site pain. Using VAS greater than 20 mm as a threshold of clinical significance, pain remained clinically significant in 5.2% of subjects. There was a significant correlation between harvest site pain and both weight-bearing and fusion site pain. There was not a significant correlation between harvest site pain and volume of graft harvested.

Autograft harvest can result in chronic, clinically significant pain that can last up to 10 years. In the era of shared decision making, this information will help surgeons and patients quantify the risks of chronic pain after arthrodesis procedures that include a secondary operative incision for graft harvest.

Level II, prospective comparative study.