The effect of ankle and hindfoot malalignment on foot mechanics in patients suffering from post-traumatic ankle osteoarthritis.

Background: Ankle and hindfoot malalignment is a common finding in patients suffering from post-traumatic ankle osteoarthritis. However, no studies have addressed the effect of concomitant foot deformities on intrinsic foot kinematics and kinetics. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the effect of ankle and hindfoot malalignment on the kinematics and kinetics of multiple joints in the foot and ankle complex in patients suffering from post-traumatic ankle osteoarthritis.

Methods: Twenty-nine subjects with post-traumatic ankle osteoarthritis participated in this study. Standardized weight-bearing radiographs were obtained preoperatively to categorize patients as having cavus, planus or neutral ankle and hindfoot alignment, based on 4 X-ray measurements. All patients underwent standard gait assessment. A 4-segment foot model was used to estimate intrinsic foot joint kinematics and kinetics during gait. Statistical parametric mapping was used to compare foot kinematics and kinetics between groups.

Findings: There were 3 key findings regarding overall foot function in the 3 groups of post-traumatic ankle osteoarthritis: (i) altered frontal and transverse plane inter-segmental angles and moments of the Shank-Calcaneus and Calcaneus-Midfoot joints in the cavus compared to the planus group; (ii) in cavus OA group, Midfoot-Metatarsus joint abduction sought to compensate the varus inclination of the ankle joint; (iii) there were no significant differences in inter-segmental angles and moments between the planus and neutral OA groups.

Interpretation: Future studies should integrate assessment of concomitant foot and ankle deformities in post-traumatic ankle osteoarthritis, to provide additional insight into associated mechanical deficits and compensation mechanisms during gait.