Percutaneous and Minimally Invasive Surgical Technique for Achilles Tendon Repair

Abstract

Category: Ankle; Sports; Trauma Introduction/Purpose: Achilles tendon rupture is a traumatic injury that can cause considerable morbidity and reduced function. The optimal treatment method for this injury remains controversial. Non-operative intervention puts patients at higher risk of re-rupture whereas surgical intervention has risks of infection and iatrogenic nerve injury. Recently, surgeons have established a less invasive surgical approach to repairing the achilles tendon. The ‘Percutaneous or Mini-Invasive’ technique was adopted in order to reduce infection rates and wound breakdown. However, due to the scarce amount of literature reported, the efficacy of this procedure still remains under scrutiny. The goal of this study was to examine the functional outcomes of patients treated at our facility for a ruptured achilles tendon using the percutaneous and minimally invasive surgical technique. Methods: From 2014 to 2020 eighty-one patients underwent a percutaneous or mini invasive surgery at our facility for the treatment of a ruptured achilles tendon. Functional outcome scores were assessed using the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle scoring system (AOFAS) and the Achilles Tendon Rupture Score (ATRS). Outcomes, complications, and any reoperations were recorded through retrospective chart review, direct patient examination, and phone calls to patients and their families. A statistical analysis was performed using Fischer’s Exact Test. Results were deemed statistically significant if the calculated p-value was less than 0.05. Results: The mean follow up for our patient cohort was 36.40 months (range, 6 to 71). The average age was 41.46 years (range, 17- 65). Mean pre-op AOFAS and ATRS were 45.60 and 47.18 respectively, compared to 90.29 and 87.97 after surgery (p-value <0.05). There were two significant complications reported post-operatively. One patient re-ruptured their Achilles tendon four months post-operatively. This patient was successfully treated with a mini invasive approach and reconstruction of the tendon. A second patient developed a superficial infection ten months post-operatively. This patient successfully underwent irrigation and debridement of the wound. Conclusion: The pre-op and post-op AOFAS and ATRS scores were deemed statistically significant. A percutaneous and mini invasive approach to repair a ruptured achilles tendon, although new, offers promising functional outcome results and remains a viable treatment option to decrease the incidence rate of post-operative infection and iatrogenic nerve injury. However, a prospective randomized controlled trial comparing the efficacy of this procedure to other surgical methods would be necessary to further evaluate and validate our findings.