Welcome

Each year thousands of Canadians undergo surgery to relieve chronic pain and swelling in their ankles caused by injuries and/or arthritis.

Until quite recently the only surgical option for chronic ankle pain was fusion (arthrodesis) which involves fusing the ankle joint so it no longer moves during walking. But a growing number of people are choosing total ankle replacement surgery (or TAR) rather than fusion.

While this surgery is still far less common than replacement of the knee or hip joint, the procedure has become more effective in recent years and more doctors are recommending it as treatment option for their patients.

About this website

This portion of myjointreplacement.ca was created for people who will be having a new ankle joint inserted sometime in the near future. It’s intended to guide and support you and your family as you move through the experience ankle replacement surgery. It begins with the pre-operative visit, describes the surgery itself and tells you what to expect during recovery and rehabilitation.

myJointReplacement.ca gives patients and their families general information about what to expect before and after joint replacement surgery. Your own experiences may not be exactly the same because practices vary across different surgeons, hospitals and rehabilitation programs. The information here is NOT meant to replace advice from your physician or therapist. If you have any questions or concerns, always speak to your doctor or another member of your Care Team.

You may decide to read all the information at once. Or you may want to look at each section separately as you get ready for and then recover from your operation.

To get started, you may want to watch two short interviews.

Meet Clive who has recently undergone ankle replacement surgery view video

Meet Dr. Timothy Daniels an orthopedic surgeon at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, Canada who is leading authority on ankle replacement surgery. view video