Functional Outcomes and Return to Sports After Surgical Treatment of Insertional Achilles Tendinopathy With Tendon Debridement and Anchor Refixation.

The lifetime risk of Achilles tendon pain is approximately 6%, one-third of whom complain of pain at the bony attachment of the Achilles tendon to the calcaneus.

Primary treatment of these insertional tendinopathies is always nonsurgical with physical therapy, orthotics, shock wave therapy, or various forms of injections. If there is no response to therapy, surgery is warranted after three to six months. In this procedure, the tendon is detached from the bone, the damaged portions of the tendon are removed, bony prominences are rounded, and finally the tendon attachment is reconstructed and fixed with anchors. Various anchor systems are available for this purpose.

The double-row anchor system used by the investigators in recent years allows stable, knotless, two-dimensional refixation of the Achilles tendon to the calcaneus and thus permits rapid rehabilitation. Recent studies show good functional results 33 months after reconstruction of the Achilles tendon attachment with the "Speed Bridge" System. To the best of our knowledge, however, there are no studies to date on sports ability after this operation.

The investigators are therefore conducting a retrospective collection of clinical patient data combined with a planned (prospective) questionnaire survey of patients with insertional Achilles tendon tendinopathy who received surgical treatment with tendon refixation.