Loss of Motion

The Ankle: Arthrofibrosis and Loss of Motion

Walking the dog. Exercising. Dancing, running and jumping. All of these propelling movements require a full range of ankle motion.

The ankle bone (talus) and the ends of the lower leg bones (tibia and fibula) form the ankle joint. Following surgery or trauma, patients often develop arthrofibrosis in the ankle — an abnormal growth of fibrous “scar tissue” around the joint — which leads to loss of motion.

When normal ankle dorsiflexion (the propelling motion that brings the toes toward the knee) is impaired by severe stiffness, patients typically compensate by limping, which causes abnormal stress in the knee, hip and spine.

Treatment

The Ankle: Motion Without Surgery

Loss of motion isn’t unusual in the first few weeks after surgery. But many patients suffer from activity-limiting motion loss well beyond a few weeks.

Historically, there have been two options available to treat severe motion loss — manipulation under anesthesia and surgical scar tissue removal — and both require expensive and risky hospital operating room procedures.

With mechanical therapy using ERMI devices, patients avoid these interventions all together. Working at home, a patient can stretch out even the stiffest ankle with rapid, lasting results.

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Products

The Ankle: In-Home Therapy Products

The ERMI Knee/Ankle Flexionater relies on the ERMI Patient-Actuated Serial Stretch or PASS protocol, coupling periods of stretch with periods of relaxation for optimal therapy.

ERMI Knee/Ankle Flexionater
The ERMI Knee/Ankle Flexionater is a portable, easy-to-use device that uses patented hydraulic technology to create overpressure to treat dorsiflexion loss. Other in-home therapy techniques, such as heel-chord stretches with a towel, require tremendous upper-body strength and are typically difficult for patients with limited flexibility. The ERMI Knee/Ankle Flexionater gives patients complete control — they can add or remove load on the joint in very small increments.

Studies have shown success rates of more than XX? percent in patients who would otherwise have returned for surgical manipulation of flexion loss.

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