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Joint
replacement surgery for ankles is becoming more common but
still has a long way to go to catch up with other joint replacements.
Joint
replacement surgery for hips and knees has become a widespread
procedure but the ankle surgery has lagged behind due to problems
with the designs of the artificial ankle joints.
An ankle
implant invented back in the 1980s by orthopedic surgeon Dr.
Rank Alvine of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, called the Agility
Total Ankle System, is the only artificial ankle currently
approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, although
there are several other models under development and in clinical
trials.
Alvine
was able to use the then-new CAT scan technology to study
the ankle's structure in detail and come up with a device
that worked more effectively using other leg muscle and bone
structures.
The Agility
ankle comes in six sizes and conforms to the anatomy of the
ankle. Previous artificial ankle joints came in one size and
were square in shape. The Agility ankle is the only replacement
ankle that tries to obtain proper tension on ligaments, according
to Alvine. Ankle mobility with the Agility ankle is also better
than with past artificial joints.
The surgery
to implant the Agility ankle takes about 2½ to 3 hours
and requires about 2 days in the hospital. The patient is
on crutches for six weeks and physical therapy begins two
to three weeks after surgery. Patients can bear full weight
on their new ankle about one month after they are off crutches.
Before
ankle replacement surgery, the only solution for severe arthritic
ankle pain was ankle fusion, which left the patient with a
stiff ankle and no range of motion.
Source:
Medical Week staff,
week of May 26, 2002
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