Total Ankle


Mercer – Bucks Orthopaedics Compassionate & Comprehensive Patient Care

Total Ankle Replacement

The ankle is one of the most crucial joints in your body. Since the ankle is a weight-bearing joint that absorbs the body's full impact, pain from an injured or diseased ankle is especially severe and debilitating. Because the ankle is so integral to an active lifestyle, it is an injury-prone part of the body for young and older people alike. Even moderate sprains and fractures can lead to problems, sometimes years later.

If chronic and debilitating ankle pain has affected your quality of life, then ankle joint replacement surgery may be an effective pain relief option for you

Once the decision to proceed with surgery is made, there are several things that may need to be done. Your orthopaedic surgeon may suggest a complete physical examination by your medical or family doctor. This is to ensure that you are in the best possible condition to undergo the operation. You may also need to spend time with the physical therapist that will be managing your rehabilitation after the replacement surgery.

The operation begins by making an incision through the skin into the front of the ankle. This is called an anterior approach to the ankle. Once through the skin, the nerves and blood vessels are protected and moved to the side. The tendons are also moved to the side. The Total Ankle joint is entered by making an incision into the joint capsule that surrounds the ankle joint. The surgeon can now look at the surfaces of the joint as he prepares the bone to replace the ankle joint surfaces.

The next step in replacing the ankle joint is to cut the bones that make up the socket of the ankle joint--the tibia and the fibula--so that the metal socket will fit in place.


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Next, the top of the talus is cut so the metal talar component can be inserted. Finally, all the tibial implant and the talar implant portions of the Total Ankle joint are inserted. Then the Total Ankle is tested to make sure the pieces fit properly. Bone graft is then placed between fibula and the tibia to create a fusion between the two bones. This stops the motion between the two bones that could loosen the artificial ankle joint. The bone graft is taken from the bone that has been removed from the ankle earlier.

When the surgeon is satisfied that everything is satisfactory, the ankle joint capsule is sutured back together and the skin is sutured together. A large bandage and splint are placed on the lower leg to protect the new ankle joint as your leg heals.

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