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Good outcomes at mid-term following the reconstruction of chronic Achilles tendon rupture with semitendinosus allograft

  • Ankle
  • Published:
Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy Aims and scope

Abstract

Purpose

Chronic Achilles tendon rupture is commonly treated surgically, yet there are limited available data on tendon allografts for Achilles tendon reconstruction. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the patient-reported outcomes of chronic Achilles tendon rupture reconstructed with semitendinosus allograft.

Methods

A total of 34 patients (30 males and 4 females, average age 36.1 ± 6.8 years ranging from 25 to 50 years) who underwent Achilles tendon reconstruction with semitendinosus allograft from 2011 to 2015 were identified for this retrospective study. The American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) score, Victorian Institute of Sports Assessment-Achilles (VISA-A) score, Achilles tendon total rupture score (ATRS), and Tegner score were evaluated preoperatively and at final follow-up.

Results

A total of 33 patients (97.1%) were followed up for a median time of 53 (range 24–80) months. The median AOFAS score increased from 50 (5–75) to 100 (86–100), the median VISA-A score increased from 23 (5–59) to 94 (52–100), the median ATRS score increased from 22.5 (6–67) to 99 (84–100), and the median Tegner score increased from 1 (0–3) to 4 (3–9).

Conclusions

Reconstruction of chronic-ruptured Achilles tendon with semitendinosus allograft offers satisfactory patient-reported results with low risk of re-rupture and complications. This technique could be considered an effective alternative for chronic ruptures of the Achilles tendon.

Level of evidence

Case series, Level IV.

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Funding

No funding was received for this study.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Yu-Jie Song and Gang Chen have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sports Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200040, China

    Yu-Jie Song & Ying-Hui Hua

  2. Department of Orthopedics, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Jiaxing University, Zhejiang, 314000, China

    Gang Chen, Shao-Hua Jia & Wei-Bin Xu

Authors
  1. Yu-Jie Song
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  2. Gang Chen
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  3. Shao-Hua Jia
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  4. Wei-Bin Xu
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  5. Ying-Hui Hua
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ying-Hui Hua.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All authors certify that this investigation was performed in conformity with ethical principles of research. Written informed consent was obtained from each participant, and the institutional review board was approved by the Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University.

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Song, YJ., Chen, G., Jia, SH. et al. Good outcomes at mid-term following the reconstruction of chronic Achilles tendon rupture with semitendinosus allograft. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 28, 1619–1624 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-018-5113-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-018-5113-1

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