Early Outcomes of 3D Printed Total Talus Arthroplasty

Patients with talar avascular necrosis (AVN) have limited treatment options to manage their symptoms. Historically, surgical options have been limited and can leave patients with little ankle motion and have high failure rates. The use of custom 3D printed total talar replacements (TTRs) has arisen as a treatment option for these patients, possibly allowing better preservation of hindfoot motion. We hypothesized that patients undergoing TTR will demonstrate a statistically significant improvement in Foot and Ankle Outcome Score (FAOS) at 1 year after surgery.

We retrospectively reviewed 15 patients who underwent a TTR over a 2-year period. Patient outcomes were reviewed, including age, sex, comorbidities, etiology of talar pathology, number and type of prior surgeries, radiographic alignment, FAOS and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) score, and range of motion. Data analysis was performed with Student t-tests and multivariate regression.

FAOSs and VAS scores showed statistically significant improvements postoperatively as compared with preoperative scores. There was a statistically significant decrease in VAS pain scores from 7.0 preoperatively to 3.6 (P < .001). Average follow-up was 12.8 months. With the number of patients available, there was no statistically significant change in radiographic alignment parameters postoperatively as compared with preoperatively (P values ranged from .225 to .617).

Our hypothesis that these patients show statistically significant improvements in FAOSs at 1 year was confirmed. TTR represents an exciting treatment option for patients with talar AVN, though longer-term follow-up is needed.Level of Evidence: Level IV: Case series.