Functional Performance and Tendon Morphology After Operative or Nonoperative Treatment of Achilles Tendon Ruptures.
Sophie Zhu, Josh Garofalo, Monther Abuhantash and 4 others
PMID 38835984WHAT IT FOUND
Both surgical and non-surgical Achilles tendon repair left patients with persistent calf muscle thinning and tendon lengthening.
Despite this, hopping and jumping performance was similar between groups and limbs, though surgically treated patients jumped higher on single-leg drop tests.
Key findings
01Calf muscle thickness and Achilles tendon length were abnormal on the injured side regardless of whether the patient had surgery or not.
02Dynamic performance tests like hopping and jumping showed no significant differences between the injured and uninjured legs, or between the surgical and non-surgical groups.
03Achilles tendon length did not correlate with how far or how high patients could hop or jump.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Very small sample size (24 patients total), which limits the ability to detect true differences. Voluntary recruitment may introduce bias, as those who participated might be more active or have better outcomes than the general population of patients with Achilles ruptures. The study is retrospective with a single prospective evaluation, so treatment decisions were not randomized. Non-operative management varied by clinician, introducing inconsistency in the treatment protocol.
Declared interests
None reported.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that a patient with a long, thin Achilles tendon or small calf muscle will have poor function. This study found that structural abnormalities were common in both groups, yet most patients performed hopping and jumping tasks symmetrically.