Incidence of Complications During the Surgeon Learning Curve Period for Primary Total Ankle Replacement: A Systematic Review.

Surgeons performing primary total ankle replacement have achieved outcomes comparable to ankle arthrodesis. However, while many reports exist suggesting the presence of a surgeon learning curve period during initial performance of primary total ankle replacement, no published analysis of the actual incidence of complications encountered during this period exists. Therefore, we sought to provide such an analysis through systematic review. A total of 2453 primary total ankle replacements with 1085 complications (44.2%) were identified. Our results revealed conflicting data whether an acceptably low incidence of high-grade complications leading to total ankle replacement failure exists during the surgeon learning curve period.