Chronic rupture of the Aquilles

tendon reconstructed with synthetic graft

Abstract

Aquilles tendon rupture is the most frequent tendon rupture of the lower limbs. Diagnosis is clinical, with about one-fifth of cases going undiagnosed. Chronic rupture definition is still controversial, with 4 weeks beings the most widely accepted time gap for chronicity of rupture. In chronic cases with big tendinous retraction and degeneration, reconstruction techniques are the best option. We report a case of chronic rupture of the Aquilles tendon, a 34 year old man who practices recreational sports, for whom we opted to reconstruct the Achilles Tendon with synthetic graft of Bard Mesh®, using a surgical technique developed by our team, this type of graft is commonly used for abdominal wall defects repairing. This kind of graft adapted to the Achilles tendon allowed for the complete functional recovery of the patient with return to sports activity. Complete recovery of the tendon was visible at one year follow-up MRI. We developed this technique as an alternative to autograft and its morbidity, this kind of graft as lower cost than other synthetic graft materials and its biocompatibility is already widely studied in the repair of abdominal wall defects.