Objective      To explore the clinical efficacy of arthroscopy for symptomatic os trigonum resection.       Methods      We assessed the efficacy of arthroscopy for 18 cases of symptomatic os trigonum resection from Feb. 2009 to Apr. 2011. The 18 patients had ankle pain in the back of the joint

and the pain worsened during active and passive plantar flexion. All the patients were followed up for 8 to 24 months (15 months on average) after operation. According to the subjective and objective scores

the clinic efficacy of arthroscopic resection was evaluated.       Results      The American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) hindfoot score of the patients after operation (92.8±3.7) was significantly higher than that before operation (69.9±2.7) (t=18.72

P0.05)

and the postoperative subjective pain score (1.2±0.8) was significantly lower than the preoperative pain score (4.30±0.55) (t=21.3

P0.05).       Conclusion      Compared with traditional open operation

arthroscopy has the advantages of reducing trauma and complications

and the patients can recover quickly.