Results of surgical treatment of rupture of the Achilles tendon with use of the plantaris tendon.

During the period from January 1968 to June 1974, 21 patients were subjected to surgical repair of a ruptured Achilles tendon in the Eindhoven Deaconess Hospital. In 19 of them, the plantaris tendon was used as autogenous suturing material. Followup examination revealed 'excellent' or 'good' results in 19 cases. In one case, the result was classified as 'bad' because of a fistula still present at the time of the follow-up, although functionally the patient was not handicapped. In view of the above, we regard the technique with use of the plantaris tendon for reconstruction of the ruptured Achilles tendon as reliable and worthy of recommendation.