Revision arthrodesis of the foot and ankle.

Previously failed procedures with less than optimal outcomes always are distressing to the patient and surgeon. The revisional arthrodesis may require a higher level of surgical technique and skill than the original procedure from which it was derived. Another level of difficulty is added when the original procedure was deemed to have failed secondary to poor patient compliance. The basic tenets of successful revisional arthrodesis include a motivated and educated patient, adherence to basic surgical principles and techniques, and the ability to extrapolate those principles and techniques into ideas that are born from thinking along the lines of necessity.