Long-term Outcomes After Total Ankle Arthroplasty: A Systematic Review

Total ankle arthroplasty has emerged as a treatment to successfully treat ankle arthritis. Recent studies have reported more than 40 000 total ankle arthroplasties (TAAs) being performed between 2009 and 2019 in the United States. Although recent studies have reported favorable patient-reported outcomes at short- and midterm follow-up, there is a paucity of aggregate literature reporting on long-term patient-reported outcomes (PROs) after TAA. The purpose of this review is to report an aggregate of literature on minimum 10-year patient-reported outcomes after TAA.

A systematic review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) were queried in June 2024. Primary research articles were included if they reported minimum 10-year PROs or satisfaction for patients who underwent primary TAA and were written in English. Survivorship was reported based on implant failure, which was determined uniquely by each study.

Eight studies met the inclusion criteria. A total of 595 ankles with a range of average ages from 51 to 73.7 years were included in the study with follow-up ranging from a minimum of 10 years to a minimum of 20 years. Six of the 8 studies reported average follow-up ranging from 11.9 to 15.8 years. Two of the 8 studies reported significant improvement in PROs following surgery. Survivorship at a minimum of 10-year follow-up ranged from 66% to 94.4%. Average time to implant failure ranged from 4.6 to 13.8 years.

Patients undergoing primary TAA were reported to have generally improved PROs at minimum 10- year follow-up. However, they demonstrated variable rates of survivorship ranging from 66% to 94.4%. Of those experiencing implant failure, average time to failure ranged from 4.6 to 13.8 years. Survivorship should be interpreted with caution because of varying definitions between studies. Further studies should seek to standardize the definition of survivorship and reporting of PROs to allow for effective analysis of heterogeneity.