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HOW USEFUL IS ELASTOGRAPHY IN THE FOLLOW-UP OF ACHILLES TENDON REPAIR?
Mehmet Ümit Çetin1, Bedriye Koyuncu Sökmen2, Fırat Fidan3
1Tekirdağ Namık Kemal University Orthopedics and Traumatology Department, Tekirdağ, Turkey.
Introduction:
In addition to conservative modalities in the treatment of Achilles tendon injuries, open, percutaneous and minimally invasive semi-open techniques, as well as biological open surgical repair methods are used as surgical options. Compression elastography is one of the methods used for the follow-up of treatment in Achilles tendon injuries.
Methods:
23 patients were included in our study between July 2013 and June 2014, as long as they had at least 4 years of follow-up. In the final control, the intact side and the operated side were both examined and compared. The variables were the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Score (AOFAS) which is measured as a functional score considering plantar flexion and dorsiflexion; calf circumference; Achilles tendon anteroposterior (AP) diameter; and elastographic examination.
Results:
The strain ratio value and AP diameter of the patients was significantly higher on the operated side than on the non-operated side (p <0.001). There was no significant difference between the plantar flexion and dorsiflexion degrees on the operated side of the patients(p> 0.05). No correlation was observed between strain ratio and AOFAS (p: 0,995).
Conclusion:
Elastography is not a useful technique to evaluate functional results on long-term tendon healing.
