Research Progress on the Prevention of Ankle Osteoarthritis

Objective: To summarize the research progress on the prevention of ankle arthritis (OA) over the past decade. By optimizing the diagnosis and treatment of ankle injuries through these preventive strategies, the incidence of ankle OA can be reduced. Methods: We searched for randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, case-control studies, and systematic reviews on the prevention of ankle osteoarthritis from 2004 to 2024 in the Embase, PubMed, and Web of Science databases, with no language restrictions. The search terms included “ankle arthritis” and “prevention”, along with their synonyms and related terms, to ensure the comprehensiveness of the literature search. Additionally, we manually reviewed the reference lists of relevant articles to identify important studies that might have been missed by the database search. Studies that could effectively prevent the development of ankle osteoarthritis were included. Studies with duplicate publications and those with poor quality due to unreasonable design, incomplete data, or erroneous statistical methods were excluded. Results: Studies have shown that preventive strategies for ankle osteoarthritis cover multiple aspects, including health management, conservative treatment, surgical intervention, bioactive agents, and the application of imaging techniques. Adhering to a healthy lifestyle or implementing exercise-based preventive programs, using emerging imaging technologies to guide early preventive treatment after ankle trauma, adopting conservative treatment or arthroscopic ligament reconstruction for ankle ligament injuries, performing autologous osteochondral grafting for large osteochondral defects in the ankle joint, and using open reduction and internal fixation for displaced intra-articular ankle fractures can all effectively prevent the development of ankle OA. Bioactive agents have demonstrated promising applications in disease prevention, but the assessment of their clinical translation and long-term therapeutic effects remains a significant challenge. Conclusion: Health management, conservative treatment, surgical intervention, bioactive agents, and the application of imaging techniques are all effective in preventing the development of ankle osteoarthritis. However, the long-term effects of certain interventions, such as the use of bioactive agents, require further investigation through prospective clinical trials.