Exactech, a developer and producer of implants, instrumentation, and smart technologies for joint replacement surgery, said an independent retrospective study reported positive two-year clinical outcomes with the Vantage Ankle Fixed Bearing System. This study, published in Foot & Ankle Surgery: Technique, Reports & Cases in March, is the Vantage Ankle’s third outcome publication but the first for its fixed bearing total ankle arthroplasty system. The prior two studies focused on its mobile bearing counterpart, which is used overseas.
The two-year minimum clinical outcome study, performed by Aaron T. Scott, MD, Matthew A. King, DPM, and Bryanna D. Vesley, DPM, at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Salem, N.C., included 22 consecutive patients with an average of 24.6 months follow-up. They reported positive results and demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in pain scores, low complication rates, and a 100 percent implant survivorship at short-term follow-up. All surgeries were performed by Dr. Scott, an independent researcher.
“I was initially drawn to the Exactech Vantage Total Ankle’s anatomical design of its talar component. Once I began using it in 2018, I was ultimately sold on the intuitive design of the instrumentation as I felt that it allowed me to maximize my efficiency in the operating room and obtain component alignment,” said Dr. Scott. “However, I have been even more impressed by our early clinical results. Over the past 3.5 years, my patients have reported a high level of overall satisfaction, substantial reductions in pain severity, and functional improvement following implantation of the Vantage Ankle.”
Additional findings on the Vantage Ankle System were recently published, highlighting its mobile bearing implant, which is available for use outside the United States.
Both studies reported no revisions, statistically significant decreases in pain scores, and statistically significant increases in range of motion after a minimum of one-year follow-up. All surgeries for the February study were performed by Vantage Ankle design surgeon Prof. Victor Valderrabano, MD, chairman of the Swiss Ortho Center in Basel, Switzerland, while Massimiliano Mosca, MD, of Italy’s Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, performed the surgeries for the June study as an independent researcher.
“The Vantage Ankle Mobile Bearing System offers axial tibial fixation, a low-profile curved talus, and a mobile inlay. Because the system is designed to recreate the natural biomechanics of the ankle and foot, I believe my patients will feel like they have their natural ankle joint,” said Prof. Valderrabano. “Dr. Scott’s study is one more outcome study that validates the success of the Vantage Ankle.”
Two more Vantage Ankle studies are expected to be published later this year.
