3 Recent Foot & Ankle Studies

The world of orthopedic foot and ankle surgery is ever-evolving and there are constantly new studies being published. In this article, I’m going to outline 3 recent studies and provide some insight and commentary.

Return-to-Driving Recommendations After Lower-Extremity Orthopaedic Procedures

This study investigates return-to-driving recommendations after lower-extremity orthopaedic procedures. I typically tell patients that they can advance their weight usually 1-2 weeks after we initiate them to fully weight-bearing. This varies based on the procedure performed:

• Ankle fractures: 6 weeks
• Total ankle replacement: 2 weeks
• Ankle ligament repair: 2 weeks
• Ankle tendon repair: 4-6 weeks
• Bunion surgery: 4-6 weeks
• Achilles repair: 2 weeks, followed by acute Achilles rehab protocol

Minimally Invasive Versus Open Repair for Acute Achilles Tendon Rupture

This is a meta analysis article on minimally invasive Achilles surgery. The study found that minimally invasive surgery brings better patient outcomes, fewer risks and complications.

If surgery is decided upon, since both nonoperative and operative are options for treating acutely ruptured achilles, I definitely employ the minimally invasive approach.

Surgical Versus Nonsurgical Treatment of Acute Achilles Tendon Rupture

This is a level 1 study, meta analysis. The basic takeaway is that nonsurgical is comparable to surgical with lower risk of surgical complication and calf strength, circumerfence and functional outcomes were comparable.

If one chooses nonsurgical, then functional rehab is key to achieving optimal results. If functional rehab is instituted, the risk of rerupture is comparable between surgical and nonsurgical.

Despite this study revealing that traditional surgical open approach and nonsurgical options are similar with functional rehab, newer techniques such as midsusbtance repair with suture anchors and percutaneous repair with adjuncts such as bone marrow (stem cells), and platelet-rich plasma might provide improved outcomes in surgical patients.