Calf muscle atrophy and Achilles tendon healing following experimental tendon division and surgery in rats. Comparison of postoperative immobilization of the muscle-tendon complex in relaxed and tensioned positions.

We used a rat model to study the effects of immobilization of the calf muscle-tendon complex after an experimental Achilles tendon repair. Immobilizations of the complex in either a relaxed or tensioned position were compared by histochemical and morphometric analyses at the site of the tendon injury as well as in the gastrocnemius and soleus muscle bellies. The type of immobilization did not affect the healing of the tendon injury because no reruptures occurred in either of the treatment groups and the average tendon end-to-end distance did not differ between the groups. However, immobilization in a relaxed position led to a significantly more extensive fiber atrophy in the calf muscles. In clinical practice, these results suggest that rehabilitation after Achilles tendon surgery can be early and gradually tension- and load-increasing without a significant increase in the risk of rerupture of the tendon.