Surgery for chronic Achilles tendinopathy produces worse results in women

Abstract

Purpose. To report the middle term outcome in male and female patients who underwent surgery for chronic recalcitrant Achilles tendinopathy.

Methods. We tried to match each of the 58 female patients with a diagnosis of tendinopathy of the main body of the Achilles tendon with a male patient with tendinopathy of the main body of the Achilles tendon who was within two years of age at the time of operation. A match accordingly was possible for 41 female subjects.

Results. Female patients were shorter and lighter than male patients. They had similar BMI, lower calf circumference, similar side-to-side calf circumference differences, and greater subcutaneous body fat than men. Of the 41 sedentary patients, only 25 reported an excellent or good result. Of these, three had undergone a further exploration of the Achilles tendon. The remaining patients could not return to their normal levels of activity despite prolonged supervised post-operative physiotherapy, with cryotherapy, massage, ultrasound, pulsed magnetic, and laser therapy.

Conclusion. Females experience more prolonged recovery, more complications, and a greater risk of further surgery than males with recalcitrant Achilles tendinopathy.

Keywords:

• Achilles tendinopathy
• surgery outcome