Total ankle arthroplasty in rheumatoid arthritis: a long-term follow-up study

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis who had undergone total ankle arthroplasty and had a minimum of 2 yr follow-up were studied. Of the original 21 patients 17 were available for review. Twenty-three ankle replacements with an average follow-up of 5.6 yr were studied. On follow-up 2 ankles were rated excellent, 13 were rated good, 4 were rated fair, and 4 were rated poor. Thus, 83% were satisfactory on follow-up. Radiographic analysis revealed migration and settling of the talar component in 14 of 15 cases. Bone cement radiolucencies were found in 14 of 15 cases. Bone cement radiolucencies were found in 14 of 15 tibial components with tilting in 12 of these components. The postoperative position of the implant did not correlate with the development of radiolucencies or migration of the implant.