Soft tissue and tendon reconstruction after Achilles tendon rupture: Adipofascial sural turnover flap associated with cryopreserved gracilis tendon allograft for complicated soft tissue and Achilles tendon losses. A case report and literature review

Abstract

Achilles tendon rupture is often complicated by skin substance loss around the tendon, which is a poorly-vascularized site. Treatment may be conservative or surgical, but the former is not generally accepted by the orthopedic community and is reserved for selected cases, while surgery remains the mostwidely-used approach.

Soft tissue repair at this site is a crucial reconstruction problem, and becomes very complex if skin reconstruction has to be associated with a complex tendon repair.

The Authors describe a new approach to the repair of Achilles tendon substance loss compounded by a soft tssue defect, using a cryopreserved gracilis tendon allograft in combination with a distally-based adipofascial sural flap.