title: Surgical treatment of achilles tendon rupture: examination of strength of 3 types of suture techniques in a cadaver model.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The mechanical properties of present-day percutaneous repairs of Achilles tendon ruptures are not known.
  
  
  METHODS
  Artificially-created ruptures in 24 human cadaveric Achilles tendons were repaired with an open Bunnell repair, a percutaneous calcaneal tunnel or a percutaneous bone-anchor repair. In the open technique no.1 PDS-II absorbable suture material was used, and in the percutaneous techniques either no.1 PDS-II or no.1 Panacryl absorbable suture material was used. The specimens were tested in a materials testing machine until failure occurred.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The common mode of failure was suture breakage in non-anchor repairs, and anchor pullout in anchor repairs. The average strength of the repairs varied from 166 N (SD 60) to 211 N (SD 30), with no differences between the techniques (p = 0.5).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Taking costs into account, the percutaneous calcaneal tunnel technique and the open technique are the methods of choice.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Orthopedic Surgery, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Robbert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Zandbergen
authors.forename: Stefan F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: de Boer
authors.forename: Bart A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Swierstra
authors.forename: Judd
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Day
authors.forename: Gert-Jan
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Kleinrensink
authors.forename: Annechien
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Beumer
mesh_terms: D000125:Achilles Tendon / Q000293:injuries* / Q000601:surgery; D002102:Cadaver; D006801:Humans; D008422:Materials Testing; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D012421:Rupture; D013536:Suture Techniques; D013537:Sutures; D013718:Tensile Strength; D016896:Treatment Outcome