CONTRIBUTION OF TENDINOSCOPY IN ANKLE TENDON DISEASE: PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF 22 CASES

Purpose: Endoscopy provides an attractive alternative to open surgery for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes in patients with ankle tendon disease. Early work was published by Van Dijk in 1994.Material and methods: Twenty patients (mean age 34.7 years, range 20–59 years), 16 with posttraumatic lesions, underwent 22 tendinoscopy procedures using a slightly modified technique with a 4.5 optical. The procedures, conducted under general anaesthesia, were performed to explore fibular (n=15), posterior tibial (n=6), and anterior tibial (n=1) tendons. Prospective follow-up was at least six months (6 – 30). Preoperatively, all patients presented more or less localised pain with signs of tendon suffering. Fifteen had undergone prior explorations (ultrasound=4, MRI=7, CT scan=1, MRI+ultrasound=3) which had not revealed any anomaly in seven.Results: Peritendinous adherences were observed intra-operatively in 18 cases with inflammatory reactions requiring resection in 13. A lesion of the tendon itself was found in s...