Dr. Andrea Veljkovic

Research from the COFAS database defined the nature of ankle arthritis and established COFAS grades of ankle arthritis. Several studies determined there was no clear difference in outcomes between ankle fusion and replacement. A consistent coding system for repeat surgery after ankle joint replacement and ankle fusion was established that led to guidelines for reporting of complications requiring reoperation.

Dr. Veljkovic developed a scoring system for assessing adverse events based on wound, nerve and systemic factors that were applied to the  determination of adverse events for lower extremity peri-operative nerve blocks. The predictive effect of pain catastrophization on poor outcomes following complex foot and ankle surgery has also been defined by Dr. Veljkovic and a validated new Ankle Arthritis Score (AAS) has been published.

Another line of research has focused on imaging outcomes of ankle arthroplasty that has led to several new
reproducible measures and a predictive scale for total ankle arthroplasty assessment.