• Ståle B Myhrvold, Espen F Brouwer, Tor K M Andresen, Karin Rydevik, Madeleine Amundsen, Wolfram Grün, Faisal Butt, Morten Valberg, Svend Ulstein, and Sigurd E Hoelsbrekken.
• From the Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo (S.B.M) and the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Akershus University Hospital (S.B.M., E.F.B., T.K.M.A., S.U.), Lørenskog, Volvat Medical Center and the Norwegian Sports Medicine Clinic (K.R., S.E.H.), the Division of Orthopedic Surgery (M.A.) and the Oslo Center for Biostatistics and Epidemiology (M.V.), Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Østfold Hospital Trust, Kalnes (W.G.), and the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Vestre Viken Hospital Trust, Drammen (F.B.) - all in Norway.
• N. Engl. J. Med. 2022 Apr 14; 386 (15): 140914201409-1420.

BackgroundWhether surgical repair of an acute Achilles' tendon rupture by an open-repair or minimally invasive approach is associated with better outcomes than nonsurgical treatment is not clear.MethodsWe performed a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial that compared nonoperative treatment, open repair, and minimally invasive surgery in adults with acute Achilles' tendon rupture who presented to four trial centers. The primary outcome was the change from baseline in the Achilles' tendon Total Rupture Score (scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better health status) at 12 months. Secondary outcomes included the incidence of tendon rerupture.ResultsA total of 554 patients underwent randomization, and 526 patients were included in the final analysis. The mean changes in the Achilles' tendon Total Rupture Score were -17.0 points in the nonoperative group, -16.0 points in the open-repair group, and -14.7 points in the minimally invasive surgery group (P = 0.57). Pairwise comparisons provided no evidence of differences between the groups. The changes from baseline in physical performance and patient-reported physical function were similar in the three groups. The number of tendon reruptures was higher in the nonoperative group (6.2%) than in the open-repair or minimally invasive surgery group (0.6% in each). There were 9 nerve injuries in the minimally invasive surgery group (in 5.2% of the patients) as compared with 5 in the open-repair group (in 2.8%) and 1 in the nonoperative group (in 0.6%).ConclusionsIn patients with Achilles' tendon rupture, surgery (open repair or minimally invasive surgery) was not associated with better outcomes than nonoperative treatment at 12 months. (Funded by the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority and Akershus University Hospital; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01785264.).Copyright © 2022 Massachusetts Medical Society.

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