CHICAGO — Early results of lateral total ankle replacement compared with anterior total ankle replacement showed patients who underwent the lateral approach had a greater risk of deep infection requiring reoperation and inferior SF-36 scores 1 year after surgery. However, there were no significant differences between the groups regarding ankle osteoarthritis and ankle arthritis scores.

“The patient-reported outcomes are statistically not different at the baseline, 6 months and 1 year,” Oliver Gagné, MD, said during his presentation at the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society Annual Meeting. “We definitely need a larger sample size to get more power. We need to stratify patients as far as their severity in the [Canadian Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society] COFAS stage, as well as their adjunct procedure within the total ankle [replacement].”