Soft tissue contractures of the knee or ankle treated by the Ilizarov technique. High recurrence rate in 26 patients followed for 3-6 years.

We used Ilizarov frames in 26 patients for correction of severe contractures in 10 knees and 19 ankles. All patients had good initial correction. 2 patients developed posterior subluxation of the knee and 2 patients developed anterior subluxation of the ankle. At a minimum of 3 years' follow-up, 11 contractures had recurred. All patients except 1 had persistent restriction of motion. Considering the final position, improvement of motion and complications, we obtained an excellent result in 1 patient, good in 13, fair in 11, and a poor result in 1. Better results were obtained in patients with posttraumatic contractures than with other etiologies. There were also better results in correcting equinus contracture of the ankle than in knee flexion contracture.