Pantalar arthrodesis: a long-term follow-up.

Eighty-three pantalar arthrodeses in 69 patients performed at the Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children, Greenville, South Carolina, between 1941 and 1977 were evaluated. Follow-up was from 1 to 33 years. Diagnoses included poliomyelitis, myelodysplasia, arthrogryposis, clubfeet, and extremity or spinal cord trauma. Methods of fusion were one-stage pantalar arthrodesis, two-stage triple ankle fusion, one-stage completion of prior tarsal fusion, and one-stage denudation of the talus. Pantalar arthrodesis is successful in the paralytic sensitive foot with a stable knee and there is no greater incidence of nonunion in the one-stage (Hunt-Thompson) procedure than in the two-stage procedure. Complications and failure of fusion are common in the insensitive foot.