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Home > Emergency Medical Minute > Podcast 809: Achilles Tendon Rupture
Podcast: Emergency Medical Minute
Episode:

Podcast 809: Achilles Tendon Rupture
Category: Science & Medicine
Duration: 00:04:31
Publish Date: 2022-08-30 10:00:00
Description:

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD

Educational Pearls:

  • Achilles tendon rupture usually presents in younger, healthy patients after a sports injury
  • Patients typically present complaining of an abrupt onset ankle pain after feeling a “pop”
    • Pain can be localized to posterior ankle and patient’s lack the ability to plantarflex
    • Achilles rupture is a clinical diagnosis and does not usually require imaging in the ED
    • Thompson test
      • Having patient lay on their stomach and squeezing the calf on the injured side should result in plantarflexion
      •  If the Achilles is ruptured, no plantarflexion will occur
  • Treatment in the ED is to place the patient in a short leg posterior splint with some mild plantarflexion to aid in healing
  • After discharge patients should follow up with orthopedics
  • Recent study compared those who underwent the traditional open surgery, a minimally invasive surgery, and no surgery
    • No difference in functionality was noted between the groups 3 months to 1 year post injury
    • Those in the nonoperative group had slightly higher rates of repeat rupture (6%) than those in the surgical groups (
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