[Arthrodesis of the upper ankle joint following trauma. Follow-up study]

During a period of more than 20 years, 63 patients having undergone a trauma were submitted to arthrodesis of the upper ankle joint. 31 out of them could be followed up from autumn 1982 through spring 1983. The primary reasons and the individual courses making necessary the arthrodesis varied to such an extent that there were no identical anamneses in any of the patients. The destruction of the upper ankle joint by high kinetic energy was apparently an essential factor in the anamnesis of arthrodesis of the upper ankle joint. There is no correlation between the number of posttraumatic arthrodeses and the number of fractures of the ankle joint treated by surgery during the same period. A "good" or "satisfactory" result was achieved in nine out of ten cases submitted to arthrodesis, and it seemed to be unimportant which of the usual techniques was applied. The high complication rate reported in literature, too, has possibly to be considered as a consequence of the gravity of the disease. It seems to be independent of the previously existing risk factors. The follow-up period is very long.