Traumatic rupture of tibialis anterior tendon treated with flexor digitorum longus graft

Gautham Kiron T; Parineetha R Bellavi; Ravi Kumar; Chaitanya Ganne

Volume : VI, Issue : III, March - 2016

Traumatic rupture of tibialis anterior tendon treated with flexor digitorum longus graft

Gautham Kiron T, Parineetha R Bellavi, Ravi Kumar, Chaitanya Ganne

Abstract :

A delay in diagnosis and management of traumatic rupture of tibialis anterior tendon can lead to chronic ankle pain and instability. Early surgical intervention has been described using extensor hallucis longus (EHL) graft with post operative deficits ranging from abnormalities of early swing phase of gait, stubbing and callosities of great toe. We report a traumatic rupture of tibialis anterior tendon which was managed surgically with flexor digitorum longus (FDL) graft in an elderly gentleman who was admitted for disabling pain in the anterior aspect of his left ankle and difficulty in walking. FDL was harvested and grafted to the ruptured tibialis anterior defect and anchorsutured to the medial cuneiform. Follow–up 6 months after surgery revealed normal gait, good functional and pain free range of motion. The use of FDL graft was adequate in maintaining the movements of the foot and preventing the more frequently noted complications of EHL grafts.