Endoscopic gastrocnemius recession: preliminary report on 18 cases.
A technique of endoscopic gastrocnemius recession was evaluated. Fifteen patients undergoing 18 procedures were prospectively studied with a minimum follow-up of 1 year. There were 9 women and 6 men (mean age, 44.1 +/- 22.6 years). One patient had an isolated recession; the others had various adjunctive flatfoot or reconstructive procedures. Pre- and postoperative ankle dorsiflexion was evaluated, as was the amount of time before patients could perform a single-leg heel raise postoperatively. The mean preoperative ankle dorsiflexion with the knee extended was -8.7 degrees +/- 3.5 degrees , which improved from a mean 14.9 degrees at 3 months postoperatively to a mean 6.2 degrees +/- 2.6 degrees . At 12 months postoperatively, this value was 3.6 degrees +/- 1.8 degrees , a net postoperative improvement of 12.6 degrees (P < .00001). Patients were able to perform a single-leg heel raise on an average of 13.0 +/- 6.0 weeks. Complications were mostly related to lateral foot dysesthesia in the distribution of the sural nerve (N = 3). Furrowing of the medial leg was noted in 1 patient. No hematomas or neuromas associated with the portal sites were found. These results show endoscopic gastrocnemius recession to be an acceptable method of lengthening the gastrocnemius complex.
Department of Sports Medicine, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Palo Alto, CA, USA. HeySax@aol.com <HeySax@aol.com>
Amol
A
Saxena
Arthur
A
Widtfeldt
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000843:Ankle Joint / Q000503:physiopathology; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007866:Leg / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D018583:Pliability; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome