SURGICAL REPAIR OF ACHILLES-TENDON RUPTURE - COMPARISON OF SURGICAL WITH CONSERVATIVE TREATMENT

Achilles tendon suture combined with a triceps surae tendon tip-over g raft was performed in 314 patients with acute rupture of the Achilles tendon between 1980 and 1991. Analysis of these cases showed a low tis sue complication rate compared with that reported in the literature. A n average of 8.1 years after repair, 223 patients were examined using Holt'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 o r after conservative immobilizing or conservative functional treatment . Ln conclusion, these data show that the fascial reinforcement is a v aluable complement to the tendon suture.