A clinical test to avoid sural nerve injuries in percutaneous Achilles tendon repairs

Abstract

Percutaneous repairs of Achilles tendon ruptures has gained popularity due the reduced incidence of wound complications, however its use is still limited by the high incidence of sural nerve injuries associated with these repairs. The only technique described to avoid this adverse event is to surgically expose the nerve peri-operatively. In our study, we describe and validate a clinical technique to identify the sural nerve. The sural nerve was mapped using this technique both clinically and by Ultrasound (US) in a cohort of male subjects with intact Achilles tendons. We demonstrated an excellent correlation between the clinical and US mapping. This study demonstrates an accurate and repeatable clinical technique for mapping the sural nerve in conjunction with percutaneous Achilles tendon repairs.