Surgery for chronic Achilles tendinopathy. Review of 91 procedures over 10 years.

The authors reviewed 91 surgical procedures in 87 patients with chronic Achilles tendinopathy. There were 62 males and 25 females (mean age, 44.9 years). The average interval between surgery and review for the group was 4.2 years (range, 1 to 10 years). Twenty patients underwent peritenolysis, with a mean return-to-activity time of 7.7 weeks. Four patients with concomitant bony procedures had significantly longer return-to-activity times than 16 patients who underwent peritenolysis only. The mean return-to-activity time was 13.2 weeks in 15 patients who had Achilles debridement for mucoid degeneration, 14.4 weeks in 32 Achilles tendocalcinosis repair patients, 18.6 weeks in 24 patients who had retrocalcaneal exostectomy procedures, and 34.0 weeks in 5 patients who had chronic Achilles rupture repair. Athletic patients (n = 47) had significantly shorter return-to-activity times than active (n = 38) and sedentary (n = 6) patients. Males returned to activity faster than females. Runners returned to activity faster than other patients.