Sa. Solveborn et A. Moberg, IMMEDIATE FREE ANKLE MOTION AFTER SURGICAL REPAIR OF ACUTE ACHILLES-TENDON RUPTURES, American journal of sports medicine, 22(5), 1994, pp. 607-610
We prospectively studied 17 consecutively treated patients (15 men and
2 women) who had surgically treated subcutaneous, complete and acute
Achilles tendon ruptures. The patients underwent a new postoperative r
egimen that allowed free ankle motion in a patellar tendon bearing pla
ster cast with a protecting frame under the foot making weightbearing
possible immediately after surgery. Evaluation was done using a patien
t questionnaire and a clinical examination recorded at 6 weeks (when t
he mobile ankle cast was removed), 3 months, and 1 year. Measurements
of isokinetic and functional strength compared with the uninjured leg
were performed at the final followup. No rerupture or other complicati
ons occurred. At 1 year, our patients were graded according to the Ame
r-Lindholm rating scale and there were 15 (88%) excellent, 2 good, and
no poor results. Six patients had an excellent result already at 3 mo
nths, and there were no poor results at any evaluation. The patient ev
aluations showed range of motion, strength, and recovery time comparab
le with or better than results of previous studies. Early free ankle m
otion after repair of Achilles tendon ruptures proved safe with very s
atisfactory clinical results,- which justified a randomized, prospecti
ve study (now in progress) comparing it with traditional ankle immobil
ization.