Hello, anyone had an ankle replacement? I have end-stage post-traumatic arthritis and have just been offered one. This is after three major surgeries over 8 years following a sprain with a significant cartilage tear, a second sprain with detached ligaments and in the middle a calcaneal osteotomy where the screw disintegrated and I ended up with an Achilles' tendon full of metal shards! I'm a little risk averse now...
Anyway have just seen a new surgeon and he says a TAR is a good option - I'm pleased because I've just been living with this for 8 years since the 3rd surgery. Previous surgeon only offered a tibial-talar fusion and I was worried about losing mobility and arthritis in other parts of the joint.
It's complicated by the fact that I have back problems and an insertional tendon tear in the opposite hip from an accident 6 years ago that for some reason has never healed. So I'm quite worried about the recovery. I also need to lose 4 stone to reach a healthy weight (I've been losing and regaining the same 1.5 stone for 5 years). Ideally I'd like to be fitter before a big surgery but getting there is very hard. My pain is well managed but really ramps up with exercise. For example I tried some new exercises at physio for my hip and hurt my back so much that I couldn't do any exercises for a week. (We've modified them, but now my ankle isn't happy and my knee is sore.)
I don't know anyone who's had one, would love to know what it's like and how the recovery was, and if it worked! My physio has worked with two previous TARs but they were both for more serious cases it seems, including multiple fractures.
Thank you!