ATR Rehab Protocols, Publications, Studies

Here’s a compilation of ATR rehab protocols guidelines.


Standard Immobilization vs. Early Mobilization Postoperative Treatment


Achilles Tendinopathy/Rupture


Related to surgery


Other relevant literature


Surgery vs. Non operative treatment (conservative treatment)


Causes of ATR


Complications:

30 Responses to “ATR Rehab Protocols, Publications, Studies”

  1. Anyone know what ADL or AROM stand for in the workers comp post op guidelines document?

  2. Brendan..
    ADL= Activities of Daily Living
    AROM= Active range of motion

    just had surgery on my AT…I am chiropractor so I have dealt with the acronyms..let me know if you need anything else

    Ross

  3. one more thing before I go….I think I have saved so much money because I can only pick up things that I really need… No more shopping til I drop….LOL :O)

  4. Stephanie,

    I think I’ll have to add that one to: Bright Side of ATR ;)

    Welcome to the ATR team. I wish you speedy recovery. How is the walking going for you?

  5. Dr. Ross, do you have chapter 6 from the article “About Tendons and Ligaments”? I would love to see that since it talks about the most effective rehab exercises.

    Thanks

    Jim

  6. Dennis..

    Not sure if I sent this to you…but a good web of water rehab for ATR..
    http://www.hydroworx.com/rehab-and-performance-applications/sub-section.aspx?sectionId=1&subsectionId=5

    Doc Ross

  7. Good news!

    It’s taken a few weeks for me to get hold of this paper:
    Early Weightbearing and Ankle Mobilization after Open Repair of Acute Midsubstance Tears of the Achilles Tendon

    I was able to get it through a personal contact.. here it is:
    http://achillesblog.com/atr-rehab-protocols/

    It may be on this site temporaily as it’s an article you have to pay to access.. :?

  8. If there are other articles that you wanted to read, but you could read only the abstract (requiring a fee or a subscription), please let me know, and I’ll see if I can also get those too.

    If there are issues with legality of this, then I’ll have to take it down at some point, and I may have to do my best to summarize the findings instead.

  9. These were terrific! Thank you for sharing!

  10. Dennis,

    As Doc Ross said donation time, keep up the good work !

    :)

  11. Hi, I just had my op to repair my ATR 3 weeks ago I will be seeing my dic in a couple of days to remove the staples and replace the cast. Please advise what am I expecting to come when I see my doc for my first follow up? Thank you

  12. Does anyone know if this injury, even after 1 or 2 years in recovery, means that the tendon is not as hardy as a tendon that has not had the injury?

  13. This is a very nice and interesting article which tells about ATR rehab.
    ———————-
    lauran
    Alcohol Rehab

  14. hi, it’s been about 8 weeks after my surgery and my foot can move upto angle 80-90 degrees to my leg. my first rehab is tommorrow and I am getting a bit nervous about the “re-rupture”. Is it possible to be re-ruptured during rehab sessions?

  15. Anyone who is really interested in the article tendon_info.pdf that Dennis has posted here can find the book for sale at this URL
    http://www.redwingbooks.com/products/books/TenLigHea.cfm

  16. For people with chronic achilles tendinosis this new procedure may be of interest.

    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090423132910.htm

    Don

  17. Hi: My name his José and I ruptured my achilles tendon about 8 months ago. I went under percutaneal surgery, inmovilization for a month, and then rehab for about 10 sessions. After that I started riding my bike and i kept doing rehabilitation at home. Im prety ok now, it dosen´t hurt and the length is normal, however I have an abormal hipertrofy. I had ecotomography made and acording to the radiologist, it looks awfull. My question is. Is there any treatment for this at this stage?

  18. Ruptured in January and reraptured 12 weeks ago
    I have now been walking without aids over 2 weeks
    Physio in the morning still very worried of another rerupture. I have had no surgery

  19. Ray, what happened when you re-ruptured?

  20. Ray,

    It might help us all to know how it happened (as trisportgirl has asked) and why no surgery? All sounds very strange,

    Annie

  21. In case anyone is interested in reading any other journal articles relating to ATRs, most of them can be accessed for free on the PubMed website via:
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/
    or http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/
    Just put the search terms you want in the search box and click.

  22. Well I ruptured mine on 7-24-09 at work, 2 months now. Not using a boot anymore. Paramedic/firefighter age 53, getting along pretty well I think. can’t really find clear rehab guildlines. how long does it takes to get back to running and climbing and the whole ball of wax?

  23. rupurted mine 2 years ago ,no sugery cause no insurance ,so now my left lag muscles are still so weak what do i do?

  24. Kathy
    Sorry to hear about the muscles. 2 years post op means that everything has healed as best as it will. In order to truly reach maximum medical improvement with this injury it is my opinion that surgery is the best option. Hopefully things have changed with respect to insurance. Make an appt with a orthopedist or podiatrist for recommendations.
    Good luck and I hope it works out.
    Doc Ross

  25. I came across your page at http://achillesblog.com/atr-rehab-protocols/. I wanted to suggest adding a link to http://www.BioMedSearch.com. This is a free site that aggregates biomedical literature, similar to NIH’s PubMed (and in fact contains all of PubMed’s documents, plus more), but more comprehensive.

    While it already has more documents than PubMed, shortly several million additional full-text documents will be added that are not available anywhere else on the web, making BioMedSearch clearly the most comprehensive place to search biomedical literature.

  26. Are you aware of any nutritional studies that indicate foods, vitamins or supplements that can assist with recovery and/or maintaining healthy connective tissue? I tore my gastroc last spring and my Achilles last week…wonder if I have an age (45 yrs old), genetic, training, or other issue. Awesome website that has been helpful to become knowledgeable so I can ask the right question of the doctor and physical therapist.

  27. Cannot afford surgery as my insurance has recently lapsed. Is there any possible self-tratment for ruptured AT that might allow me to resume hillwalking and an active life. I am 66 and until this injury (3 weeks ago) I was always very active (walking/cycling/climbing rigging)
    I find it hard to accept I’m destined to be couch-potato.
    PLEASE help with any practical advice

  28. What’s the difference between expected discomfort following advised trial of walking in boot without support and actual damage or god forbid re-rupture, how did people know?
    Thanks

  29. It’s nice to see and use this site. Spent a couple years with achilles problems that were probably small tears. Then had a bad “partial” tear on May 5, 2009. Never really recovered and limped around for 6 months and couldn’t regain strength. Then had a complete rupture November 20 and surgery November 24. I hear it can be a long hard recovery so I have been searching for info on rehab. You all know the normal questions like should I be moving more or resting…etc. The info here is very helpful. Thanks

  30. Scary Larry (54) from BC Canada says:
    I had ATR Surgery Aug.09/09 following a waterskiing mishap. I have been grateful for the information found in the ATR blogs as the surgeons do not offer an abundance of info. I had no idea how serious this injury was until I read up on it while waiting for surgery. Here is a record of my progress to date:
    Cast - 3 weeks (was not told to move toes as much as possible -which would have helped with swelling)
    Walking Boot - 4 weeks with physio / hydro pool / band exercises / light weight bearing / ditch crutches
    Stationary cycle and eliptical trainer were very helpful
    Riding Mountain bike -@ 9 weeks -gentle terrain -pushing with heel (not recommended-but I couldn’t help it). Walking with pronounced limp - short distance
    10-12 weeks - walking with less pronouced limp
    - Biking - moderate terrain / Walking at a brisk pace on the treadmill (bare feet) is a big help in returning to a normal walking gait (as I found I have to overcome the “habit” of limping). Now walking with slight limp
    16 weeks - the Big Test - Downhill Skiing Begins -spent several evenings walking around with ski boots on to ensure there were no new pressure points.
    Skiied moderate terrain - taking great care not to fall. Properly fitted ski boots offered great support and did not aggrivate the AT.
    17 weeks - skiing as prior to ATR . (just notice turns to injury side are weaker - careful not to push it)
    18 weeks - gaining strength - but no clalf raises yet.
    Note: I found that a tensor wrap helps with support and greatly reduces swelling.
    Hopefully some will find this info both helpful and encouraging.

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