Last December I suffered a terrible fall, breaking my leg just above the ankle. My surgeon told me that my ankle was also badly damaged and that it will have to be fused (ankle arthrodesis), so over the past few months, I've been informing myself as much as possible regarding this procedure. I've been to a few other doctors; one said the ankle probably doesn't have to be fused, another said there're probably other options that should be exhausted first (he mentioned shockwave therapy!), but my surgeon remains very firm - the ankle has to be fused because it is too badly damaged. Funny enough, throughout all this, I haven't started to feel any ankle pain but on the other hand, I'm only putting a maximum of 30-40 pounds body weight on the broken leg, so I guess we'll have to wait until I really start walking to see if the pain warrants this type of operation.

Today after seeing my surgeon for a checkup however, he threw me a curve that completely threw me off balance. He said that he's hoping the ankle will SELF-FUSE, thus rendering an ankle fusion surgery unnecessary. I looked at him really puzzlingly since I've never heard of such a thing, but he said with any "luck", this could happen.

Personally, I'm not entirely praying for a fusion one way or the other, since I'm only 29 years old and rather enjoy running around and doing things young people do, but now I'm wondering about this self-fusion. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? If so, could you explain how it happens and if it's the same as a doctor induced fusion?

Thanks!

Interesting.
No, I've never heard of "self-fusion."
I have done quite a bit of reading on fusion because my doctor said that its a good possibility I'll need fusion down the road.

I would get about five opinions before getting a fusion procedure. It will limit your activities a bit and put stress on your other joints.

Unfortunately, I'm slowly coming around to the evitable, that I'll have to get my ankle fused, if not now, then surely some time in the future. They've allowed me to start putting some body weight on the broken leg when I walk (still with crutches however), and I can tell you, after about 15 minutes my ankle starts to hurt like hell. I'm holding on to the slim chance that it's hurting because of all the screws they still have in there, and that when they're all out and the leg is completely healed, by some divine miracle, I'll be able to walk without pain. BUT, from what my surgeon has explained, and I'm inclined to believe him, even if I don't get the fusion now, because the ankle has sustained damage, it WILL eventually wear out and require fusion to alleviate the pain.

I'm just wondering if this self-fusion that he mentioned is any different from the doctor induced method. I'm wondering if self-fusion will at least leave SOME range of motion, because as I understand it, the operation leaves the ankle completely immobile and fixed in place.

Oh, what a life!