Matching Patient Expectations after Ankle Fusion Based on Patient Reported Outcome Measures

CATEGORY: Ankle Arthritis INTRODUCTION/PURPOSE: Much research on outcomes after ankle fusion focuses on gait changes, progression of adjacent joint arthritis, and other clinical measures, but little has been reported on the patient’s perspective. The purpose of this study was to determine the change in physical function and pain after undergoing ankle arthrodesis as determined by patient reported outcomes (PROs). METHODS: This was a retrospective review of prospectively collected patient reported outcomes data in 88 consecutive ankle arthrodesis procedures performed from May 2015 to March 2018. Patient reported physical function (PF) and pain interference (PI) were measured as part of the routine care via the PROMIS computerized adaptive test at 6 months and 1 year post- operatively. Descriptive data and Spearman correlations were determined for PF and pain at 6 months and 1 year. RESULTS: The mean pre-operative PF T-score was 37, less than the pre-determined threshold value of 42, indicating that this cohort was impaired physically and would respond positively to surgical intervention. The mean pre-operative PI T-score was 63 indicating moderate to high baseline pain and greater than the threshold value of 60, indicating that this patient cohort would have decreased pain after surgical intervention. The meaningful clinically important difference (MCID) was achieved for PI at 6 months and 1 year post-operatively (T-score of 4 and 6, respectively). At 6 months and 1 year, there was a moderate inverse correlation between PF and PI (r=-0.49, r=-0.61 respectively) suggesting less pain and more function. Demographic data, mean follow-up time, and mean PROMIS T-scores are seen in Table 1. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that patients can expect to have a clinically meaningful improvement in pain after undergoing ankle fusion. Although patients do improve marginally in physical function, it is most likely the improvement in pain that is the greatest benefit to these patients at one year after ankle arthrodesis. This information is important to share with patients to align patient expectations with surgical results.