Endoscopic Surgery for Delayed Wound Healing After Achilles Tendon Suture Repair: A Report of Three Cases

Abstract

Background Delayed wound healing is a potention complication after Achilles tendon suture repair and occurs for various reasons. The conventional treatment for delayed wound healing is open surgery, but patients face long recovery times and postoperative care is difficult. Case Presentation This report presents three patients who were seen at our institute from April 2008 to October 2017 due to long‐term non‐healing wounds after surgery. All three patients had undergone surgery at least 2 months previously. We performed endoscopic surgery on these patients. After the operation, patients received less antibiotics and simpler care than would be required for conventional open surgery. There is no need to keep the wound open after the operation or perform wound cleaning for multiple times at the same time, which can reduce healing time. At the last follow up, all postoperative scores among the patients were significantly improved compared to before surgery. The Achilles tendon total rupture scores were excellent and the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society scores were satisfactory, indicating improvements in Achilles tendon function and movement in patients after surgery. Conclusion Our case reports demonstrate that arthroscopic treatment for delayed wound healing after Achilles tendon suture repair is satisfactory and reliable; frequent opening of the wound for cleaning is not required after the operation, thus reducing the healing time.

Keywords

• Achilles tendon suture repair
• Delayed wound healing
• Endoscopy