anterior tendon injury

robbennett

Has anyone ever(or know anyone) suffered from an injury where the main tendon in the front of the lower leg has been cut through. I have just had an operation to repair (tendon graft) and need some reassurance that I might get back to full strength one day ie climbing hills, 100km rides etc? I'm 53 now and pretty fit (or was).

wishitwasallflat

What tendon do you mean - ligamentum patellae (the one below your kneecap) of tibialus anterior (the one at the front of your ankle)?

Either way the only difference is how the rehab is structured - these tendons do repair and are as strong as they ever were (arguably can be stronger) the trick is to make sure the repaired section is pain free and elastic. That's why you need good guidance from a Physio for your rehab and follow it! Think of the millions upon millions of achilles tendons that snap every day and the vast vast majority of them repair. Almost every MSK operation means tendons get cut (getting access to replace a hip or a knee for example) in many ways a nice clean cut repaired by a surgeon will heal faster and cleaner than a raggedy tear caused by stress. The biomechanical garden path is abnormal structure fails under normal load - normal structure fails only under abnormal load. If yours was cut as part of an OP then sounds like it must have been normal structure in the first place - once again that's good and no reason to worry unduly. Just do what your Physio tells you and be patient no reason to think it won't be fine (may take 9 months or so though ime).

robbennett

thanks for reply, it was a clean cut to tibialus anterior when i accidentally fell through glass (not very glam) but wasn't repaired for 3 weeks. repaired with a graft taken from higher up the same tendon (I'm still in a cast). I though it would be 6 months plus, just in time for more winter training!!

wishitwasallflat

I would say of thosee two Tib Ant is defo the least worst to be cut (much much less loading than Lig Pat) - a good clean cut is also better and a good surgical repair should mend fine. It will take a while but when I said 9-12 I meant until it is back to normal - with normal healing you should be up and about and firstly training lightly on the turbo and then the road (ask your physio) long before then. As I said no reason to be overly worried if your basically healthy then healing is what your body wants to do. It heals by scarring and the real key to rehab is to make sure the scar is pain free and extensible so it can function normally within the tendon. We physios have lots of techniques in our arsenal to make sure that happens as tendon and ligament rehab is bread and butter physio.

Best of luck

Davidjohnb

I severed my quadriceps tendons at the knee after slipping down a hill. After emergency surgery which involved drilling holes in my knee cap, threading and attaching the tendons and tying through the holes. I was then in a brace for almost six months, lost about 3 inches of my quads and had to slowly learn to bend my knee again and stretch the tendons. Lots of phisio and although I have never fully recovered my quad size in that leg I now cycle around 160 miles a week, do lots of 80 milers, hills and sprints without any problems. Be positive, work extra hard at the phisio and you will be fine, tendons can take a bit of time but keep at it.