A series of 116 pantalar arthrodeses has been presented with a critical follow-up two to twenty-two years after operation.
A two-stage pantalar arthrodesis was found to have no advantage over a one-stage procedure. When the Kocher approach was used the operative time was somewhat less than that with the anterolateral approach, but the incidence of wound complications was higher.
The rate of pseudarthrosis, which occurred almost exclusively at the ankle, was 14.7 per cent. Most of the pseudarthroses occurred in patients with spasticity, the result of cerebral palsy or degenerative disease of the central nervous system.
The best results in both male and female patients were found when the ankle was fused in 5 to 10 degrees of plantar flexion with no pronation or supination.