Grice subtalar arthrodesis followed to skeletal maturity

Abstract

A retrospective review of 45 patients (62 feet) who had undergone a Grice subtalar arthrodesis and who had reached skeletal maturity was undertaken. Preoperative deformities were due to flaccid and spastic paralysis, as well as congenital abnormalities. There were failures in 32% and poor results in 61%. Unrecognized ankle valgus, overcorrection of the hindfoot into varus, uncorrected calcaneus deformity, and anterior graft orientation largely contributed to the poor results. Weight-bearing radiographs of the feet and ankles are necessary to distinguish ankle valgus from hindfoot valgus. A subtalar arthrodesis cannot be used to compensate for ankle valgus, nor can it be used to correct the calcaneus component of a deformity without appropriate muscle-balancing procedures or osteotomies.