Ankle Replacement Surgery
Posted , 196 users are following.
I would like to estabish contact with anyone who has undergone ankle replacement surgery and reflect a ittle on the aftereffects and the longer term prognoses for recovery and mobility.
Having undergone such an operation about 9 months ago I am currently coming to terms with a less than welcome (and certainly unexpected) imapct upon my life and mobility.
Issues such as lack of mobility, excessive swelling and cronic pain from the ankle itself but also from the toes and lack of sensation and feeling in parts of the foot are those I am facing and would like to know how other poeple have fared, both in the short and longer term.
16 likes, 848 replies
andy14600 Ultraboxer
Posted
One year ago today I had a TAR at Northwestern Delnor Hospital in Geneva, Illinois. Performed by my awesome surgeon Dr. Gergory Witkowski.
I now have great range of motion and little pain in the repaired area. The only pain I now suffer is from the Sub-Talus area of the foot that was not repaired. The pain is kept under control with the help of steriod shots every 3 months or so.
I am currently going to the gym 3-4 days a week to lose weight and get my strength back after years of inactivity. At the gym I will ride a stationary bike and do roughly 15 miles. I am still very careful when going down stairs. I never thought I would get to this point but I feel like I am at 90% recovery.
Best piece of advice I can give to potential patients is to follow doctors & physical therapist instructions.
yvonne13888 andy14600
Posted
Awesome job! Keep up the great work! I'm 7 months post surgery and I also go the gym.
ron22660 Ultraboxer
Posted
It's been a while since you posted your message, but, assuming you or others are interested in a new response, here is mine. I have had similar results from ankle replacement surgery 26 months ago. I'm back to riding bicycles, though I wear a brace now to minimize post ride discomfort. I'm not really inclined to walk for fun, as my ankle hurts somewhat the whole time. I've developed a bunion due to turnout of my foot as I walk, so I look for very wide shoes which, unfortunately, are still not comfortable on my afflicted foot. Finally, I find myself massaging my ankle, ball of the foot and toes with Voltarin every evening in the hope of minimizing the weird conflict of areas still having feeling with other areas which lack perhaps 50% feeling. I'm assuming there is some nerve damage as a result of the surgery.
Bob1953 Ultraboxer
Posted
This is my first post on this forum...so hello...and apologies if I am digging up an old story that has been dealt with earlier.
I had an Infinity TAR during September 2016 and my initial treatment seems familiar with many of you who have posted on here...2 weeks in plaster and 4 weeks in a boot. Then physio and general improvement in mobility.
My stay in hospital was 1 night only...had my op on a Wednesday afternoon and was home by Thursday afternoon. My operation was virtually pain free and the Morphine solution they gave me to take home remains unopened.
My original injury was down to a classic car/motorbike accident in 1970 that resulted in a compound fracture of my Left Ankle...45 years on the arthritis had got to the bone on bone stage and my ability to walk any distance was much reduced.
I am now able to walk 3 miles on a regular basis...I have ridden a bike a couple of times with no adverse affects. I take Naproxen daily for it's anti-inflammatory benefits...sometimes I top it up with Paracetamol...and very occasionaly one Tramadol. Overall I am pleased with my ankle and am looking afteer it as best I can.
I still find stairs a slight problem as I do not have full movement as yet...certainly have as much (at least) than I had pre-op. I use a cane sometimes but not always...depends how far I am going.
I do have some pain...usually a dull throb that goes with rest.
The worst thing I have had is shooting pain up the inside of my ankle, and I would really like to hear from anyone else who has experienced this issue. I can be sat pain free, and when I get up and try to walk the pain is very strong, then, after a few steps it goes completely and I can walk "normally" again free from pain.
Does anyone know what causes this, and, how long does it last? I must add that it is not so bad as it was a month ago...but it is still there at times.
Looking forward to a response...many thanks.
biancamosca Bob1953
Posted
Thanks
Bob1953 biancamosca
Posted
Hello Bianca,
If this is a repeat...apologies...I thought I replied but not sure if I pressed the wrong button and lost it.
Weeks 1 & 2 were in a backslab NWB Plaster.
Week 3 was in a lightweight Fibre glass plaster with PWB.
Weeks 4 to 6 were in a boot with increase to FWB over that period.
After that use of crutches/stick/boot was down to my common sense.
I found the Physio very good and am careful about what I try to do with regard to walks etc. Prefer to go in the morning rather than the afternoon...wear proper walking boots and use a stick...stroll; don't rush.
Still get a bit sore after a walk but putting feet up always helps.
Hope this is useful.
biancamosca Bob1953
Posted
Thanks Bob, thanks that's very helpful, did u hav your TAR in the uk or USA? I will be in the fibreglass cast for weeks 2-6 and then will go into an airboot for another 6 weeks I think, but have been told to increase the amount of FWB from wk 3, am a little nervous about it and mostly get heel pain and my tendon is quite sore at this point when I have walked for 20 mins 50% weight bearing. When in the back slab when I laid down at night I got an excruciating pain from inside ankle up the inside calf, felt like something stabbing into my leg, when I changed plaster I got it the first night but now it's almost disappeared.
Bob1953 biancamosca
Posted
I had my TAR in the UK.
The original plan was to go straight from a backslab to boot, but a supply issue meant I spent 5 or 6 days in a lightweight plaster as an interim measure. I thought the boot was fantastic and gave me the confidence to get moving a bit without too much discomfort.
Interesting about your stabbing pains...my time in plaster/boot was mostly with very little pain and discomfort. The worst pains I had were about 1 month ago when I started getting shooting pains up the inside of my operated ankle. This has reduced considerably over the past couple of weeks and my GP is not too concerned...perhaps a strain/sprain that is now repairing. All in all my pain is much less than pre-op and my use of strong pain killers is now almost non-existant.
Very happy (apart from the stabbing pains last month) with the outcomes so far.
EdmundF Ultraboxer
Posted
Hallo Ultraboxer and everyone else here.
Glad I found this patient.info website and especially this thread.
After a car accident in which my ankle was badly damaged, now the the pain is getting too much and I have to make a choice between a lot of pain an ankle fusion or TAR.
It may be my poor searching skills but I was not very successful in finding actual patient and their results, some websites I found where not maintained.
Unfortunately I cannot (yet) speak for myself but a friend of mine who had TAR about 4-5 years ago is a success story. He had the SALTO implant and he was back on his feet in no time.
No pain no problems nothing, he is walking frequently for hours.
After about 4 hours he says it is feeling a bit irritation but that is about it.
His surgeon will dot the same operation to me but he warned me that although he is specialized he has a significant number of problems with TAR. Now of course I am very interested in real life experience of real patients. Is it be possible to include a table in this website with data like
Age of patient at first operation along with the year.
the make of the implant
Where it is done by which surgeon.
Result after 1 2 3 4 5 .. year
Other operations replacement fusion ?
RichardKen EdmundF
Posted
Dear Edmund
If you are in the level of pain that is not being controlled by Paracetamol then by delaying treatment is not going to be doing you any favours. I'm basing this on several years of reading the discussions on the excellent Yahoo Ankle_joint _replacement forum. it would seem that leaving treatment too long can reduce the amount of movement t ugh at you get ba movement
RichardKen
Posted
So the message is leaving the surgery too long is likely to result in a reduction of movement.
I think you should not by concerned at what prosthesis your surgeon will be using but do concern yourself as to the level of experience they have and this really boils down to do they do a decent number of these replacement ankles each year. Here in the UK there are some 200 surgeons listed as doing these with a combined annual number of around 800 replacement ankles a year. Some surgeons are doing quite a number each year so it is pretty that most are perhaps just one or two and this is not enough for what is quite a technical job!
If you are in the UK which I suspect you are then there is a national register fiving you
RichardKen
Posted
In the UK there is a National Register listing the different operations done by each registered surgeon with success rates and this would give you a clue.
Hope this helps you a bit.
Cheers Richard
EdmundF RichardKen
Posted
EdmundF > RichardKen
Thank you for your reply.
About waiting too long, yes I am aware of the pro’s and con’s.
To be honest I am afraid of such a definitive operation as TAR.
The specialized surgeon more or less warned me about the risk involved and the high percentage of “failures”, on the other hand, my acquaintance is extremely happy with his TAR.
Reading the experiences from other patients here, well, I am not reassured.
About the differences from different brands of implants, that is a difficult question too, obviously there is still no perfect one. I see some advantage in the “Zimmer” model like less bone loss but most manufacturers have abandoned the “cemented” types.
( don’t even think I can get one of those here in the Netherlands )
You are definitely right about waiting too long and risking movement but with a little exercise I can maintain or even improve the amount movement I have now.
I will check the Yahoo groups you mentioned, all info is welcome.
Thank you very much for your advice.
theresa12324 Ultraboxer
Posted
Hi there,
Listen I don't want to be a negative Nelly here, I just want to share with you my journey.
It wasn't too long after my TAR that I ended up in pain management. I had severe, chronic pain, still do. My body has become addicted to these awful medicine's. I had no idea my life would end up like this.
I have mobility issues, swelling, can no longer where decent shoes.
Just recently I was diagnosed with stress fractures in my femur. My Orthopedic Surgeon correlates this damage to the TAR.
What I can tell you is that after 4 years, I still lay in bed at night thinking "how in the world can this pain be so bad?
I wish you the best.
Terry
tara54372 Ultraboxer
Posted
Give it some time. I had my replacement at age 48. My ankle was a mess. I was considering amputation. Thank goodness for my ankle replacement as well as my surgeon. My surgeon was well experienced. He has performed over 1000 ankle replacements.i had a few other procedures done to my ankle at the same time as my replacement to ensure its success. I was in chronic pain for almost 20 years but I can now say that at 19 months post op I am pain free.
I will admit the recovery was painful. I had numbness in my toes and entire top of my foot . It takes about two years to completely recover from this surgery. It took almost a year for the numbness to go away . I still have a tiny bit of numbness at the top of my foot , but it's minimal and doesn't bother me in the slightest.Sometimes you can have pain associated with the toes after this type of surgery. I had pain in my toes before my surgery due to pre existing nerve damage but I had toe surgery six months ago to solve that problem. I don't have the range of movement as a normal ankle would but I walk with a normal gait, bicycle, hike in tough terrain , as well as work 40 hours a week on my feet. I have my life back. I am extremely satisfied with my result. I am curious what type of replacement you received. I received the "Wright Infinity " ankle replacement. If you are a user of Facebook I encourage you to join a Facebook group called :
"Ankle Replacement Group" we are over 1000 members strong and we come from all over the world . You can get advice and read about other people's stories. Most are good , a few not so good . I wish you luck . Stay positive! It takes two years to completely recover. Remember: no running or jumping with an ankle replacement. I wish you the best