Surgical treatment of foot and ankle deformities in rheumatoidarthritis patients

Overview

The authors review the possibilities in surgical treatment of foot and ankle deformities in rheumatoidarthritis patients. Inflammation of the joints causes gradual longitudinal flattening of the archof the foot, which subsequently results in the whole ankle deformation with serious planovalgusfoot deformity development. Deviation of the axis of the lower extremity results in the impairmentof the walking stereotype and afterwards knee joint overloading. Arthrodesis of subtalar joint is oneof the most frequently performed reconstructive surgical procedures. Arthrodesis or total jointreplacement arthroplasty are the methods of the choice in the strategy of the ankle surgery. Thereare advantages and disadvantages of the both presented methods. Especially ankle synovectomy,internal and external ankle tendon synovectomy are used preventively.

Key words:
surgery of the rheumatoid foot, arthrodesis of ankle, triple arthrodesis