• Int Orthop · Oct 2012

    Z-shortening of healed, elongated Achilles tendon rupture.

    • Nicola Maffulli, Filippo Spiezia, Umile Giuseppe Longo, and Vincenzo Denaro.
    • Centre for Sports and Exercise Medicine, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Mile End Hospital, 275 Bancroft Road, London E1 4DG, UK. n.maffulli@qmul.ac.uk
    • Int Orthop. 2012 Oct 1;36(10):2087-93.

    PurposeA rupture of the Achilles tendon may heal in continuity, resulting in a lengthened Achilles tendon. The elongated structure must be shortened to restore effective push off. We report the results of a longitudinal study using Z-shortening of ruptured Achilles tendons that healed in continuity but were elongated.MethodsNine patients underwent surgery for elongation of a healed Achilles tendon rupture. All participants were prospectively followed up for two to five years, and final review was performed at 32 ± 14 months from operation. Clinical and functional assessment (anthropometric measurements, isometric strength, postoperative total rupture score) was performed.ResultsAll patients were able to walk on tiptoes, and no patient used a heel lift or walked with a visible limp. No patient developed clinically evident deep-vein thrombosis or sustained a rerupture. Two patients were managed conservatively following a superficial surgical wound infection. At final review, maximum calf circumference remained significantly decreased in the operated leg. The operated limb was significantly weaker than the nonoperated one.ConclusionsManaging a healed Achilles tendon rupture using Z-shortening is safe and effective, providing good recovery and early weight bearing and active ankle mobilisation. Such patients should be warned that they are at risk for postoperative complications and that their ankle-plantar flexion strength is likely to be permanently reduced.

      Pubmed     Full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…

What will the 'Medical Journal of You' look like?

Start your free 21 day trial now.

We guarantee your privacy. Your email address will not be shared.