668 British Journal of General Practice, December 2015 IntroduCtIon Over recent months, the authors of this paper have seen an increase in the number of patients with a delayed or missed diagnosis of ruptured Achilles tendon presenting to their orthopaedic clinics. Many subscribe to the view that any delay in diagnosis of more than 24 hours is a relative indication for surgery. In a recent revi...

Bilateral spontaneous rupture of the Achilles tendon is a rare occurrence with few case reports in the literature. Despite being one of the strongest tendons in the lower limb, it is the most common one ruptured. Majority of Achilles tendon ruptures are unilateral. We present a case of surgically treated chronic bilateral Achilles tendon rupture in a 42-year-old patient without associated risk ...

Fracture of the calcaneal tuberosity with a concomitant Achilles tendon rupture presents a difficult challenge for the treating surgeon. The ultimate goal of treatment is to restore function of both the gastrocnemius-soleus complex and the Achilles tendon. This particular subset of fractures occurs often in diabetics and elderly patients with osteoporosis making fixation of the displaced fragme...

introduction Long distance runners often experience chronic overuse injuries and Achilles tendon injuries are known to be one of the most common physical complaints within this group. However, while several injury inducing factors were discussed in the literature, no clear proof of cause and effect could be settled. Excessive foot motion in the frontal plane and increased running speed are freq...

Achilles tendon tear is common and increasingly frequent. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the modality of choice for radiological evaluation. It is accurate to assess the status and integrity of the tendon with well documented features. In this article, the MR findings of a normal Achilles tendon as well as common diseases like insertional and noninsertional tendinosis, chronic tendinosis w...

Estrogen concentration has been suggested to play a role in tendon abnormalities and injury. In physically active postmenopausal women, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has been suggested to decrease tendon diameter. We hypothesized that HRT use and physical activity are associated with Achilles tendon size and tissue structure. The study applied cotwin analysis of fourteen 54- to 62-yr-old id...

The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of karate fights on Achilles tendon stiffness in karate competitors. Eleven male karate fighters participated in the present study. A handheld MyotonPRO device (MyotonPRO, Myoton Ltd, Estonia) was applied to measure Achilles tendon stiffness in karate fighters. The Achilles tendon was tested 5 cm above the tuber calcanei. Stiffness measureme...

The aim of this study was to summarize the clinical experience of repairing the Achilles tendon rupture by lariat lock catch knot suture. Between January 2011 and February, 2014, 32 cases of the Achilles tendon rupture were treated by lariat lock catch knot suture. There were 26 males and 6 females, with the average age of 39 years (range 17-53 years), including 13 left knees and 19 right knees...

BACKGROUND A few prospective controlled trials comparing early functional rehabilitation after Achilles tendon repair and non-operative immobilization have been reported. HYPOTHESES There is no difference in Achilles tendon elongation between early motion and immobilization after Achilles tendon repair. Tendon elongation does not correlate with the clinical outcome. STUDY DESIGN Randomized ...

BACKGROUND Achilles tendon injuries are known to commonly occur in runners. During running repeated impacts are transferred in axial direction along the lower leg, therefore possibly affecting the oscillation behavior of the Achilles tendon. The purpose of the present study was to explore the effects of different footwear modifications and different ground conditions (over ground versus treadmi...