[Fresh rupture of the Achilles tendon]

In the Unfallkrankenhaus Salzburg (Salzburg Trauma Hospital) 586 inpatients with a recent Achilles-tendon rupture (ATR) underwent treatment within the years 1967 to 1984. Sporting activities were the dominant cause of the lesion (75% of total cases). Due to the location of our hospital skiing injuries dominated within this group. Pathogenesis of the lesion is discussed according to type and mechanism of the injury. Surgical approach has clearly been the standard therapeutic procedure (475 patients), whereas conservative treatment (twelve patients) resulted in a distinctly higher rate of reruptures. Thus the latter approach should be chosen in patients only when local factors or general disease rule out surgery. Rerupture is the most serious long-term complication. Therefore those cases have been critically analyzed with special attention to the type of surgical approach. In two thirds of our patients we conducted a follow-up with a questionnaire. The average time post trauma in this group was 8.9 years. Results are presented considering comments of the patients as well as occurrence of complications in the various surgical procedures.