The strength of percutaneous methods of repair of the Achilles tendon: a biomechanical study.

PURPOSE: A study on 36 cadaveric Achilles tendons was undertaken to compare different Achilles tendon repairs.

METHODS: The strength of the repair and the gapping resistance were tested under different standardized experimental conditions. Each matched pair of cadaveric Achilles tendons was randomly repaired in the original Ma-Griffith configuration and in the new modified configuration and loaded to failure. Using a special equipment, the force displacement curve was measured.

RESULTS: Under different experimental conditions, the new modified technique presented in the paper provided significantly greater tensile strength and gapping resistance than the original Ma-Griffith repair configuration.

CONCLUSION: The results of this study may be clinically relevant in terms of choice of the percutaneous method used for the repair of the ruptured Achilles tendon.