By Casey Tingle
Although research has shown satisfactory outcomes for total ankle arthroplasty in patients with preoperative coronal plane deformity of greater than 10°, it is still considered a relative contraindication; however, researchers recently reported the effective use of total ankle arthroplasty in a patient with a severe preoperative varus deformity without the need for osteotomy.
The researchers performed total ankle arthroplasty using the Inbone II Prophecy total ankle system (Wright Medical Technologies) in a 54-year-old man who presented with severe right-ankle varus deformity of 29°. The patient also underwent subsequent Brostrom Evans ligament reconstruction for lateral ankle instability. The researchers used preoperative CT imaging navigation to develop a patient-specific guide that was used intraoperatively. 