title: Repair of Achilles tendon rupture using autologous semitendinosus graft in a kidney transplant recipient.
abstract: Insertional Achilles tendon injuries can be difficult to treat when minimal tendon tissue remains for anastomosis. Moreover, in the chronic case with tendon shortening, operative repair can be more difficult than acute rupture. It is particularly desirable to reinforce the tendons, in addition to performing primary repair, in patients with renal or systemic diseases because of the accelerated collagen degeneration. Many techniques have been described for the surgical management of Achilles tendon rupture; however, none has shown clear superiority. We report the case of a 50-year-old renal transplant patient with a spontaneous distal Achilles tendon injury that we repaired using the pull-out technique reinforced with an autologous semitendinosus graft. At 2 years postoperatively, the ankle-hindfoot scale score was 92 points, and the postoperative course was without complication. We believe that the free hamstring tendon autograft is advantageous for this repair, because it is easy to handle, has limited donor site morbidity, and preserves the structures around the ankle.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan; Department of Sports Medicine, Osaka Kousei-Nenkin Hospital, Osaka, Japan. Electronic address: uchida3847@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ryohei
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Uchida
authors.affiliation: Department of Sports Medicine, Osaka Kousei-Nenkin Hospital, Osaka, Japan; Department of Orthopaedics, Sumitomo Hospital, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Natsuume
authors.affiliation: Department of Sports Medicine, Osaka Kousei-Nenkin Hospital, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoneda
authors.affiliation: Department of Sports Medicine, Osaka Kousei-Nenkin Hospital, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fuji
mesh_terms: D000125:Achilles Tendon / Q000293:injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D002111:Calcaneus / Q000293:injuries; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000601:surgery; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012421:Rupture; D013708:Tendon Injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D013710:Tendons / Q000637:transplantation*; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous
keywords: Achilles tendon injury; renal transplantation; semitendinosus tendon