ANKLE DISTRACTION ARTHROPLASTY: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Epidemiological data suggest 9-15% of ankle joint osteoarthritis (AOA) in the general population. One of the methods of delaying radical intervention is ankle joint distraction arthroplasty of the ankle joint (ADA), including a combination of various techniques. The lack of publications summarizing the maximum possible clinical data on ADA for more than 50 years of the method's history justifies the need for a review. A systematic review of ankle distraction arthroplasty followed the 2020 PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses) protocol guidelines. The inclusion criteria were articles with clinical data in full text in English, available on the Internet for the maximum possible period, including the treatment of diseases of the ankle joint using distraction arthroplasty. At the search stage, 4640 publications from 3 sources were identified. 33 articles were selected for analysis of the full texts of the articles. Additionally, 1 article was excluded, as it contains duplicate information from an identical study. The analysis of the full texts of 32 publications was made, according to the parameters indicated earlier. A total of 927 patients underwent ADA. The mean age of the patients was 44.9 ± 12.7 years. Among the causes, post-traumatic AOA was indicated in 26 (81.3%) publications, osteochondral defects (n=2, 6.3%), consequences of poliomyelitis (n=4, 12.5%), congenital deformities (n=4, 12.5%), hemophilia (n= 2, 6.25%), idiopathic juvenile osteoarthritis (n=1, 3.1%), rheumatoid OA (n=1, 3.1%). Despite the more than 50-year history of ADA, there is still no sufficient understanding of this methodology. The goal of future research is to understand the exact indications for ADA depending on the stage, etiology, and type of AOA. ADA is a promising effective method of treatment that allows achieving an improvement in function and a reduction in pain in the medium and long term while preserving the patient's joint.