Ankle joint distraction arthroplasty: why and how?

For select patients, distraction ankle arthroplasty may be a promising treatment approach for ankle osteoarthritis; however, there is still limited literature addressing its efficacy and clinical long-term results. In this article, the literature regarding the outcome after ankle distraction arthroscopy is reviewed, the indications and contraindication for this procedure are listed, our surgical technique is described, and our preliminary results with this procedure are presented.