OA in ankle, should I go ahead with ankle fusion?

Rosie2021

Hi, I'm new on here 😁

I have OA in my ankle which is post traumatic after I was hit by a vehicle 6 years ago, and now my ortho consultant has advised ankle fusion. It seems like a big decision to decide how to go ahead and I'm not eligible to have an ankle replacement because of my age....I'm just a bit torn with what to do at the minute, on one hand anything to get me out of this pain would be more than welcome!! But also I worry how much it will affect my day to day life and also I love to walk up mountains whenever possible so I don't know how a fused ankle would cope with any incline? Though at the moment any walks are a struggle so it may be the lesser of two evils to just jump in to the surgery...? And I have a lot of achillies tendon pain so will the surgery affect this much or not at all? I'm a bit all over the shop about what to do in all honesty! If it wasnt easy to tell by this post 😂

I had a steriod injection earlier this year but about 3/4 weeks later it wore off and its no different than it was before now. If anyone out there has had an ankle fusion or any other joint fusion really and has any advice at all I'd really appreciate anyone reaching out 😊 I've chatted with my consultant several times but I'm always met with fairly brief answers. No disrespect at all to my consultant as they're all incredible people who do a whole lot of healing! But I feel like nothing could give me a better idea of how life goes on after this surgery than someone who is living it now and experienced it first hand.

If anyone has any advice at all or just fancies a chat about living with OA pain I'm all ears 😊

Ellen

Good morning @Rosie2021

Welcome to the online community.

I see you are being offered ankle fusion surgery following an accident 6 years ago. This is definitely a big decision. Do you wait until you are 'old enough', (have they given you a time span for this option I wonder), for ankle replacement or go for the fusion and hopefully less pain, but less movement sooner.

You are right this is the place to come for opinions from those who know because they've had either surgery.

I am going o attach a couple of previous threads for you to read while you wait for replies:

https://community.versusarthritis.org/discussion/53041/ankle-replacement-views

https://community.versusarthritis.org/discussion/41373/ankle-arthritis

Best of luck and please do keep in touch these surgeries are not very common and as you know yourself it really helps others to now what the outcome could be.

Ellen.

Rosie2021

Hi Ellen,

Thats brilliant, thank you for posting these previous threads!

I’m 29 and my consultant advised I wouldn’t be able to get an ankle replacement on the NHS as if I did get one I think I’d need another potentially in the future…that’s what I gathered from our conversation anyway! He’s advised to get the fusion next year, I had x rays earlier in the year and a CT, and I’m going for an MRI soon which will hopefully have a follow up appointment in person to discuss it further.

Thanks again Ellen I will update when the time comes 🤗 x