Foot & ankle international
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Comparative Study
Healing of Achilles tendon, an experimental study: part 2--Histological, immunohistological and ultrasonographic analysis.
In 105 rabbits the course of healing was examined at one, two, four, eight and 12 weeks (21 rabbits per group) after an experimental Achilles tendon rupture. The following treatment modalities were compared: A) primary functional treatment; B) operative functional treatment (resorbable suture); and C) operative functional treatment with fibrin glue. For the functional (after)-treatment a special orthosis was applied. ⋯ The echogenicity of the tendon during the course of healing showed increasing homogeneity and parallelism in all groups. At 12 weeks the echogenicity was comparable in all groups. The experiment suggests the equivalence of primary functional treatment to a combination of operative and functional therapy in Achilles tendon rupture.