The International Documentation and Evaluation System IDES: a single center observational case series for development of an ankle prosthesis documentation questionnaire and study of its feasibility and face validity.

BACKGROUND: The number of implanted total ankle replacements is increasing and most articles present short- and mid-term results. Comparison of outcomes is difficult because of inconsistent terminology and different use of parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We created a module for total ankle prostheses in the framework of the International Documentation and Evaluation System (IDES). Content development was conducted with an iterative process based on a single surgeon series of 74 HINTEGRA(c) total ankle replacements and expert opinions. RESULTS: The IDES ankle module comprises three forms A, B and C for recording of primary (A), revision (B) and followup (C) procedures. 74 primary interventions, 28 revisions and 92 followups could be documented in detail with the final version of the questionnaires. CONCLUSION: The IDES-forms facilitate a structured and standardized data collection for total ankle arthroplasties. Implemented on the academic MEMdoc portal http://www.memdoc.org of the University of Bern, all registered users can make use of IDES in its online or paper based versions.