The surgical treatment for degenerative disease of the ankle

Although a variety of surgical techniques are available for the surgical tr eatment of early degenerative disease of the ankle. arthrodesis remains the preferred treatment for severe cases. We studied 126 ankles with an averag e follow up of 39 months of whom 25 with early disease underwent debridemen t and cheilectomy, 18 with intermediate disease underwent lower tibial oste otomy and 83 with severe disease underwent either arthrodesis (78) or total ankle replacement (5). In 96% of cases there was a satisfactory functional outcome.