To evaluate the efficacy of posterolateral water inflow portal of arthroscopic ankle arthrodesis.

The patients who underwent arthroscopic ankle arthrodesis in Center for Joint Surgery, Southwest Hospital from July 2005 to July 2017 were followed up. The posterolateral water inflow portal was established from March 2014 to improve the efficiency of surgery. The patients from July 2005 to March 2014 were enrolled into the control groups and the patients from March 2014 to July 2017 were enrolled into the observation groups. The operation time, the AOFAS score and the bone fusion time were compared between the two groups by t test or rank sum test.

Seventy-eight cases were followed up, including 43 cases in the observation group and 35 cases in the control group. The average follow-up time was (47±24) months. All the patients achieved bone fusion at (15±3) weeks after surgery, pain relief and gait improvement. One patient in the control group had surgical wound bad healing which was cured by change dressing. There was no joint infection, deep venous thrombosis in either groups. Five patients were found subtalar arthritis over all follow-up periods. The operative time of the observation group was (89±8) min, which was significantly less than (109±10) min of the control group (t=9.290, P<0.01). The AOFAS scores were significant improvement after surgery in observation groups (t=12.629, P<0.01) and in control groups (t=12.652, P<0.01), there was no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05). There was no significant difference in bone fusion time between the two groups (P>0.05).

The posterolateral water inflow portal can significantly shorten the operation time and improve the efficiency of arthroscopic ankle arthrodesis, but there is a learning curve about this technique.