Motor performance of the foot after Achilles rupture repair

The purpose of this study was to examine some motor performance aspects of the unloaded lower extremity after Achilles tendon rupture repair. The measured motor performance aspects were simple reaction time, choice reaction time, speed of movement, foot tapping speed, and coordination.

Ninety patients (76 men and 14 women) with total closed Achilles tendon rupture had been operated on a mean of 3.1 years before the measurements. Ninety age and gender-matched control subjects were drawn from a larger reference group from the local population. Age and gender-matched pairs were set up, and the results were compared. The measurements were made with the HPM/BEP-system, which is a multifunctional system designed to measure different motor aspects of the feet, including reaction time, movement speed, tapping speed, and coordination.

There were no statistically significant differences in the results between the operated and non-operated lower extremities in the patient group a mean of 3.1 years after the operation. When the results were compared between the patient and control groups, no statistically significant differences were found.

Based on the results, it seems that the measured motor performance functions of the unloaded lower extremity had fully recovered after the Achilles tendon rupture repair in the above mentioned aspects, and the operated patients do not have an increased risk to get reinjury of Achilles tendon because of the lower performance of these motor functions of the lower extremity.