Use of a Hunter Rod for Staged Reconstruction of Peroneal Tendons

Peroneal tendon pathology is a commonly reported cause of lateral ankle pain. The causes include cavovarus foot type, overuse, chronic tendinosis, peroneal subluxation or dislocation, acute traumatic split tears, and traumatic rupture. The purpose of the present report is to describe an alternative approach for surgical reconstruction of the peroneal tendons in patients when repair might no longer be effective. The use of a Hunter rod was originally described by Hunter in 1971 for 2-stage reconstruction of tendons in the hand. We present a 2-stage surgical technique with the use of a Hunter rod as a temporary implant to stimulate generation of a healthy peroneal tendon sheath to host a flexor hallucis longus tendon transfer. This has proved to be a successful treatment option for patients with severe peroneal tendon damage and scarring along the peroneal tendon sheath. We offer a sample case to illustrate a patient with such indications.