Retrospective Analysis of Mini-Open Repair Versus Open Repair for Acute Achilles Tendon Ruptures:

Purpose: Debate exists over optimal treatment for acute Achilles tendon ruptures. Recent literature suggests the mini-open technique may provide the reliability of the open repair with the decreased complication rate of non-operative treatment. This retrospective review compares acute tendon ruptures treated with one of two techniques: open repair (TO) or mini-open repair (MOA). Methods & Results: Records were reviewed and 34 patients were found to meet the inclusion criteria for open or mini-open repair of an acute Achilles tendon rupture with follow up of at least 12 months. TO (n=16) and MOA (n=18) had no statistically significant differences in age at time of injury [TO: 41 + 2.5 years (range 20 – 68); MOA: 46 + 2.5 years (range 33 – 73)] or time between injury and surgical repair [TO: 15 + 2 days (range 2 – 30); MOA: 15 + 2 days (range 2 – 30)]. Post-operative VISA-A scores were 82 + 10 (range 42 – 98) and 92 + 5 (range 66 – 100) for TO and MOA, respectively. Significant differences were found in the...