TECHNICAL NOTES   

Chirurgia Del Piede 2001 August;25(2):99-104

Copyright © 2001 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Surgical repair of Achilles tendon rupture in the non agonistic sportsman. Percutaneous technique: two methods compared

Lagalla F., Cerlon R., Antoniono E., Iero R., De Petro P., Bistolfi A.

Background. The treatment of choice for the surgical repair of acute Achilles tendon rupture is not established. Traditional open techniques are commonly used as well as less invasive techniques. The purpose of this work is to assess and compare the results of two percutaneous techniques.
Methods. We examined 40 male patients (mean age 37 years, max 45, min 27) treated for rupture of the Achilles tendon from 1991 to 1996 at the CTO of Turin. All they were non agonistic sportsman: Twenty were treated at II Department of Orthopedics using the Ma-Griffith technique and 20 at I Division of Orthopedics using a ''barbed-wire'' technique. The patients underwent a clinical, isokinetic and echosonographic evaluation.
Results. Both techniques gave very good results: the patients were satisfied and come back to their activities in 5 months. No lack of movement for the ankle joint was found, and we did not have any complication of clinical value. The operated tendons show some alterations in their fibrillar structure and are larger than the other tendon.
Conclusions. In conclusion, both the techniques can be indicated for the treatment of the young non-agonistic sportsman patient with a rupture of the Achilles tendon, for their simplicity and for the good results.