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| |  Experimental Ankle Joint Prosthesis May Improve Lives of Arthritis Sufferers PITTSBURGH, PA -- November 20, 1997 -- For people with severe arthritis of the ankle joint, an orthopedic foot and ankle surgeon at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Health System has been helping to pioneer a new procedure for total ankle joint replacement. Stephen Conti, M.D., associate professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and chief of orthopedic foot and ankle surgery at UPMC, has been performing the operation in collaboration with DePuy Inc., of Warsaw, IN., maker of the Agility™ Total Ankle System, the newly designed implant used in the procedure. The surgery, in which the ankle joint is removed and replaced with the Agility Ankle prosthesis, offers hope for people, generally aged 50 and older, who have painful ankle joint arthritis for whom non-surgical treatment is ineffective, according to Dr. Conti. He has successfully performed the operation on 25 patients over the past 18 months. Dr. Conti is among 10 orthopedic foot and ankle surgeons across the country who for the past year have been working with DePuy to refine the procedure before the Agility Ankle and surgical training become available to other orthopedic foot and ankle surgeons. "In the 1970s, surgeons tried to develop artificial implantation procedures, but these were failures due to inadequate biomechanical implant design and poor surgical technique and doctors stopped doing them altogether," Dr. Conti said. "The only other option for patients was -- and still is -- joint fusion. However, fusion often results in joint stiffness, immobility, detrimental effects on other joints and often requires casting for three months. We believe ankle replacement surgery is a better alternative in some cases.” Compared to ankle joint implantation of the past, the Agility Ankle prosthesis is designed to better fit the anatomical nature of the complex ankle joint. The part of the prosthesis which is inserted into the tibia and fibula (lower leg bones), giving it a wide base for support, consists of polyethylene (medical grade plastic) and titanium. The part of the joint which moves up and down is replaced with a component made of cobalt chromium alloy, a metal commonly used in joint replacement therapy. After surgery, the ankle is immobilized for a short time, then the patient begins physical therapy. He or she wears a non-weight-bearing brace for about six weeks, then undergoes a period of rehabilitation.
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