Treatment of hindfoot and ankle infections with Ilizarov external fixator or spacer, followed by secondary arthrodesis

Abstract

An established treatment strategy in surgical site infection after hindfoot and ankle surgery is a two-stage procedure with debridement and placement of a cement spacer, followed by antibiotic treatment and secondary arthrodesis. However, there is little evidence to favor this treatment over a one-stage procedure with debridement, followed by primary arthrodesis with an Ilizarov external fixator and antibiotic treatment. We compared the infection control and clinical and radiological outcome of a two-stage and a one-stage procedure. In this study, 7 patients with a two-stage revision and 11 patients with a one-stage revision between 2005 and 2015 were included. The primary outcome was infection control (absence of the Musculoskeletal Infection Society PJI criteria) 2 years after the ankle or hindfoot arthrodesis. Secondary outcome measures were the AOFAS hindfoot score and radiological consolidation rate. Infection control was 85% (6 out of 7 patients) in the two-stage group and 81% (9 out of 11 patients) in the one-stage group (p = 1.0). One patient (14%) of the two-stage and two patients (18%) in the one-stage group needed below-knee amputation. In the two-stage group, the mean postoperative AOFAS score was 74.8 (SD: ±11.3) versus 71.7 (SD: ±17.8) in the one-stage group. Radiological consolidation could be achieved in 71% in the spacer group (n = 5) and in 72% in the Ilizarov external fixator group (n = 9). Infection control, AOFAS score, and radiologic consolidation of hindfoot and ankle arthrodesis were comparable in both groups of patients with complicated postsurgical hindfoot or ankle infections.