Fluoroscopic and Endoscopic Calcaneal Exostosis Resection and Achilles Tendon Debridement for Insertional Achilles Tendinopathy Results in Good Outcomes, Early Return to Sports Activities, and Few Wound Complications.

PURPOSE

To review the outcomes of patients with insertional Achilles tendinopathy who underwent a minimally invasive surgery: fluoroscopic and endoscopic calcaneal exostosis resection and Achilles tendon debridement.

METHODS

The medical records of consecutive patients who underwent this surgery from February 2017 to July 2019 were reviewed. The inclusion criterion was ≥2-year follow-up. The exclusion criterion was another surgery performed on the ipsilateral or contralateral foot. Haglund deformity resection was not combined with this surgery. The outcomes were assessed using the visual analog scale (VAS) score and the Japanese Society for Surgery of the Foot (JSSF) scores for all patients and the Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment self-administered Achilles (VISA-A) scores for patients participating in sports activities. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test and the thresholds of minimal clinically important difference (MCID) and patient acceptable symptom state (PASS) were used for statistical analyses.

RESULTS

Forty-four patients with a mean age of 55.7 ± 11.0 years and mean body mass index of 26.0 ± 4.0 kg/m were included. The mean follow-up duration was 2.8 ± 0.7 years. Of all participants, 22 participated in sports activities. The overall median VAS and JSSF scores improved from 64.5 to 6.5 mm and from 67.0 to 100 points, respectively ( < .001). The percentages of patients who achieved the MCID for the VAS, JSSF, and VISA-A scores were 100%, 93.2%, and 100%, respectively, and the percentages of patients who achieved the PASS for the VAS, JSSF, and VISA-A scores were 77.3%, 86.4%, and 81.8%, respectively. The median VISA-A scores improved from 40.5 to 95.0 points ( < .001). The median time to return to sport was 4.5 months. Complications included five cases of reoperation and two cases of scar sensitivity.

CONCLUSION

For patients with insertional Achilles tendinopathy, fluoroscopic and endoscopic calcaneal exostosis resection and Achilles tendon debridement resulted in good outcomes, early return to sports activities, and few wound complications.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

IV, therapeutic case series.