Surgical repair of Achilles tendon rupture. Comparison of surgical with conservative treatment

Abstract

Achilles tendon suture combined with a triceps surae tendon tip-over graft was performed in 314 patients with acute rupture of the Achilles tendon between 1980 and 1991. Analysis of these cases showed a low tissue complication rate compared with that reported in the literature. An average of 8.1 years after repair, 223 patients were examined using Holz's scale of clinical assessment after Achilles tendon repair. The results were 'good' in 87.4%, 'fair' in 11.2% and 'poor' in 1.4%. The re-rupture rate was very low (0.4%). These results are better than the re-rupture rate after surgical repair with solely end-to-end suture or after conservative immobilizing or conservative functional treatment. In conclusion, these data show that the fascial reinforcement is a valuable complement to the tendon suture.