Background: The mechanical properties of present-day percutaneous repairs of Achilles tendon ruptures are not known. Material and methods: Artificially-created ruptures in 24 human cadaveric Achilles tendons were repaired with an open Bunnell repair, a percutaneous calcaneal tunnel or a percutaneous bone-anchor repair. In the open technique no.1 PDS-II absorbable suture material was used, and in the percutaneous techniques either no.1 PDS-II or no.1 Panacryl absorbable suture material was used. The specimens were tested in a materials testing machine until failure occurred. Results: The common mode of failure was suture breakage in non-anchor repairs, and anchor pullout in anchor repairs. The average strength of the repairs varied from 166 N (SD 60) to 211 N (SD 30), with no differences between the techniques (p = 0.5). Interpretation: Taking costs into account, the percutaneous calcaneal tunnel technique and the open technique are the methods of choice. Copyright

doi.org/10.1080/17453670510041312, hdl.handle.net/1765/60088
Acta Orthopaedica (Print)
Department of Orthopaedics

Zandbergen, R., de Boer, S., Swierstra, B., Day, J., Kleinrensink, G. J., & Beumer, A. (2005). Surgical treatment of Achilles tendon rupture: Examination of strength of 3 types of suture techniques in a cadaver model. Acta Orthopaedica (Print), 76(3), 408–411. doi:10.1080/17453670510041312