Surgery vs. Rehab By Health Day ..professional athletes hobbling
around in pain after tearing their Achilles tendon. It happens
in amateurs and non-athletes, too. In fact, the Achilles is the
most commonly ruptured tendon in the body. In most cases, the
first order of business is surgical repair. It's been believed
that surgery reduces the rate of re-ruptures. But a new Canadian
study suggests a more conservative approach can be just as
effective. Data were analyzed from 10 different studies,
including more than 800 people who had torn their achilles.
4-hundred-18 had surgery...while 4-hundred-8 were treated non-
surgically using casts, splints and sometimes physiotherapy.
Those treated using "functional" rehabilitation that worked on
their early range of motion fared just as well as those who were
operated on. According to the data, the re-rupture rate for both
treatment options was equivalent but the non-surgical approach
produced fewer complications. The catch, according to the
researchers. patients who do