Soft tissue and tendon reconstruction after achilles tendon rupture : adipofascial sural turnover flap associated with cryopreserved gracilis tendon allograft for complicated soft tissue and achilles tendon losses. A case report and literature review

Soft tissue and tendon reconstruction after Achilles tendon rupture:Adipofascial sural turnover flap associated with cryopreserved gracilis tendon allograft for complicated soft-tissue tendon losses.A case report and literature review Achilles tendon rupture is often complicated by skin substance loss around the tendon, which is a poorly-vascularized site. Treatment may be conservative or surgical, but the former is not generally accepted by the orthopedic community and is reserved for selected cases, while surgery remains the most widely-used approach. Soft tissue repair at this site is a crucial reconstruction problem, and becomes very complex if skin reconstruction has to be associated with a complex tendon repair. The Authors describe a new approach to the repair of Achilles tendon substance loss compounded by a soft tissue defect, using a cryopreserved gracilis tendon allograft in combination with a distally-based adipofascial sural flap.