Peritenolysis and debridement for main body (mid-portion) Achilles tendinopathy in athletic patients: results of 107 procedures.

Achilles tendinopathy in the main body (mid-portion) of the tendon is a common pathologic finding among active and athletic populations and can be debilitating without proper and adequate treatment. Numerous surgical approaches for this common pathologic finding have been reported, with variable outcomes.

We evaluated the surgical outcomes of peritenolysis and debridement of main body Achilles tendinopathy among athletic populations using the return to activity (RTA) and decreased desired activity (DDA) as our primary outcome measures.

A total of 100 patients who underwent 107 procedures by the senior author (A.S.) from January 2001 through December 2015 met the inclusion criteria, 65 (65%) of whom were runners. The mean follow-up duration was 106.6 ± 55.5 months from the index procedure, and the mean interval necessary to RTA for the entire group was 10.9 ± 5.3 weeks. The average RTA after debridement was 14.1 ± 5.2 weeks and after peritenolysis was 7.3 ± 2.0 weeks (p = .00001). Of the 100 patients, 3 (3%) had experienced a DDA at the last follow-up visit.

With >97% of the patients able to return to their desired activities, we have concluded that peritenolysis and debridement are favorable surgical techniques for main body Achilles tendinopathy.