DiIorio S, Griffin M. Considering the importance of ankle pathology in total knee arthroplasty recovery. World J Orthop 2025; 16(11): 110279 [DOI: 10.5312/wjo.v16.i11.110279]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Michelle Griffin, PhD, Academic Fellow, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Stanford University, 257 Campus Drive, Palo Alto, CA 94301, United States. mgriff12@stanford.edu
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Orthopedics
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Letter to the Editor
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This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Nov 18, 2025 (publication date) through Nov 20, 2025
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Publication Name
World Journal of Orthopedics
ISSN
2218-5836
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Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
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DiIorio S, Griffin M. Considering the importance of ankle pathology in total knee arthroplasty recovery. World J Orthop 2025; 16(11): 110279 [DOI: 10.5312/wjo.v16.i11.110279]
World J Orthop. Nov 18, 2025; 16(11): 110279 Published online Nov 18, 2025. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v16.i11.110279
Considering the importance of ankle pathology in total knee arthroplasty recovery
Sarah DiIorio, Michelle Griffin
Sarah DiIorio, Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA 94301, United States
Michelle Griffin, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA 94301, United States
Author contributions: DiIorio S wrote the original draft and revised draft; Griffin M contributed to conceptualization, writing, reviewing, and editing. All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Michelle Griffin, PhD, Academic Fellow, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Stanford University, 257 Campus Drive, Palo Alto, CA 94301, United States. mgriff12@stanford.edu
Received: June 4, 2025 Revised: July 23, 2025 Accepted: September 23, 2025 Published online: November 18, 2025 Processing time: 164 Days and 5.4 Hours
Abstract
Osteoarthritis (OA) is an extremely prevalent degenerative joint disease which commonly occurs in the knee. In severe cases of knee OA, total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is often indicated to relieve pain and restore limb alignment. While studies have shown how TKA improves knee symptoms, the relationship between the operated knee with the hip and ankle remains understudied. A prospective study by Buterin et al showed a significant relationship between reduced ankle symptoms and better TKA recovery. The objective of this paper is to explore ways to expand the completed study to make it more widely applicable. These include sampling patients from multiple surgical centers in different cultural backgrounds, including different etiologies of OA, extending the study time points, and evaluating the contralateral limb. Together, the study by Buterin et al combined with future work can elucidate new TKA rehabilitation techniques which focus on the entire lower extremity.
Core Tip: Knee osteoarthritis leading to total knee arthroplasty is a common clinical condition. This paper evaluates a study recently performed by Buterin et al which shows that decreased ankle symptoms improve total knee arthroplasty recovery. Topics covered include expanding the study to include multiple centers, sample size and study length, cultural definitions of activities of daily living, exploring the ankle relationship in post-traumatic osteoarthritis, and understanding the role of the contralateral limb.
