If your ankle has been bothering you for a while and you’ve been told that an ankle replacement procedure is likely in your future, you may have begun to assess which surgeon would be right for your procedure. Do you go with a podiatric surgeon, who focuses on only the feet and ankles, or an orthopaedic surgeon, who also has a deep understanding of the lower body, but has a wider understanding of the musculoskeletal system as a whole?
Researchers recently conducted a review to see whether patients benefited from going to one of these providers over the other for their total ankle replacement procedure. We explore the findings of that study and discuss how it impacts your surgeon choice for your total ankle replacement procedure in today’s blog.
Podiatric Vs. Orthopaedic Surgeon
Before we dive into the study, do you think one type of surgeon will have better results than the other? Instinctively, you may have defaulted to the podiatric surgeon because they specialize in the feet. However, many orthopaedic surgeons also choose to focus on the feet and ankles, despite having a wider breadth of knowledge of the whole body system. Do you think one performs the total ankle replacement procedure better than the other?
At the most recent American Society of Podiatric Surgeons (ASPS) Annual Conference, researchers presented a study that examined whether or not patients were better off going with a podiatric surgeon or an orthopedic surgeon for their total ankle replacement procedure. Researchers looked at more than 11 years worth of data to develop a cohort of 13,514 patients. 12,766 were treated by orthopaedic surgeons, while 748 were treated by podiatric surgeons.
This right here should tell us something about the findings. If podiatric surgeons were producing much better results, we’d assume that they would be performing a larger portion of the procedures. There are significantly more orthopaedic surgeons than podiatric surgeons, but patients would likely be more willing to wait for a podiatric surgeon if their results constantly eclipsed that of an orthopaedic surgeon.
After looking at the data, researchers found that both groups of physicians produced great results, and there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups for a total ankle replacement procedure. The overall revision rate was 3.5%, which aligned with national benchmarks, and rates of postoperative infection, blood clots and wound complications were comparable across both groups. Researchers noted that podiatric surgeons did tend to a slightly higher portion of patients with underlying comorbidities and issues like diabetes, but the complication rates remained consistent, suggesting that one specific training pathway did not influence patient outcomes.
Researchers concluded by saying that instead of looking for a specific degree on the wall, patients are likely better off by choosing their surgeon based on experience. Both of these groups need many years of schooling in order to get their degree, and their specific pathway of understanding is less important than their experience and track record when it comes to finding the right surgeon for your total ankle replacement.
If you’re looking for a talented and experienced orthopaedic surgeon to perform your total ankle replacement procedure, we hope you’ll consider connecting with Dr. Silverman. For more information, reach out to Dr. Silverman by filling out this contact form.