Bone Reduction Clamp to Gain Length in Repairing Chronic Achilles Tendon Ruptures

Chronic Achilles tendon ruptures occur after an unrecognized, untreated, or misdiagnosed acute Achilles tendon rupture and present a potentially debilitating injury for the patient. Various techniques have been described to reconstruct the Achilles tendon after chronic ruptures. The technique chosen depends on the length of tendon defect that is present after debridement. If the tendon gap is greater than 3 cm, additional techniques are generally used, as direct repair is often not possible. The authors present a novel intraoperative technique using pointed reduction clamps to gain and maintain length of the Achilles tendon to decrease the gap between ends of the Achilles tendon and allow for end-to-end repair when it may have otherwise not been possible. [Orthopedics. 2016; 39(6):e1223-e1225.].