Radiographic soft tissue thickness is not a risk factor for infection after primary total ankle arthroplasty

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic Surgery
• Infectious Disease
• Radiology

Background:

• Total ankle arthroplasty (TAA) is increasingly performed for end-stage ankle arthritis.
• Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) is a serious complication following TAA.
• Identifying risk factors for PJI is crucial for improving patient outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the predictive value of preoperative radiographic soft-tissue thickness for PJI after TAA.
• To investigate whether Tibial-Tissue and Talus-Tissue distances can predict PJI risk.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 323 patients undergoing primary TAA between 2003 and 2019.
• Measurement of preoperative Tibial-Tissue and Talus-Tissue distances on lateral radiographs.
• Logistic regression analysis to determine the Odds Ratio (OR) for PJI risk factors.

Main Results:

• A PJI rate of 1.86% (6 out of 323 patients) was observed.
• Neither Tibial-Tissue (OR = 0.975, p = 0.09) nor Talus-Tissue thickness (OR = 0.976, p = 0.18) were significant predictors of PJI.
• The infected cohort showed a trend towards smaller average soft-tissue thickness, though not statistically significant.

Conclusions:

• Preoperative Tibial-Tissue and Talus-Tissue thickness are not significant predictors of PJI after primary TAA.
• Additional research is necessary to identify modifiable risk factors for PJI in TAA.
• Focus should be on developing strategies to reduce PJI rates and improve TAA outcomes.