Surgical treatment of extensive rupture of the tendon anterior tibialis with semitendinosus and gracilis graft

case report and literature review

Abstract

The tibialis anterior tendon is the most important ankle dorsiflexor, having a relevant function in the gait cycle. The rupture of the tendon may be spontaneous or traumatic and clinically is noticed a triad with the presence of a tumor in the anterior region of the ankle, loss of the normal contour of the tendon and reduced dorsiflexion force. We report a case of traumatic rupture of the tibialis anterior tendon and the extensor hallucis longus, which was not diagnosed at the time of injury, the treatment was made late, through reconstruction with allograft of semitendinosus and gracilis tendons. The relevance of the case lies in the fact that it is a rare injury, with few cases described in the literature. We emphasize that the negligence or omission of the injury, as well as the delayed treatment is associated with worse functional outcomes.