Arthrodesis, also known as joint fusion, is the artificial induction of joint ossification between two bones by surgery. This is done to relieve intractable pain in a joint which cannot be managed by pain medication, splints, or other normally indicated treatments. The typical causes of such pain are fractures which disrupt the joint, severe sprains, and arthritis. It is most commonly performed on joints in the spine, hand, ankle, and foot. Historically, knee and hip arthrodeses were also performed as pain-relieving procedures, but with the great successes achieved in hip and knee arthroplasty, arthrodesis of these large joints has fallen out of favour as a primary procedure, and now is only used as a procedure of last resort in some failed arthroplasties.^{[citation needed]}

Arthrodesis can be done in several ways:

At the completion of surgery and healing, which takes place over a period of several weeks to over a year^{[citation needed]}, the two adjoining bones are fused and no motion takes place between them. This can have the effect of strengthening the bones, as in anterior cervical fusion.^{[citation needed]}

Arthrodesis is used in horses as a salvage procedure to treat severe breakdown injuries, such as failure of the suspensory apparatus, subluxation, fracture, or collateral ligament rupture. It is also performed in horses with osteoarthritis, primarily of the distal hock joints, to fuse these low-motion joints so they no longer produce pain for the animal.