Repairing ruptured Achilles tendons.

• Position: Two-step treatment uses new method of suturing - Special Newsletter Edition: Your Health

A new method for treating ruptured Achilles tendons, a common foot injury experienced by "weekend athletes," gets the patient back on the road to recovery in a short time. Using an improved suturing technique and implementing an early rehabilitation program has allowed individuals to resume their daily activities in about six months, compared to 10 months with earlier treatment methods, notes Mark S. Myerson, an orthopedic surgeon at Baltimore's Union Memorial Hospital.

The new treatment program is a two-step process, he explains. "First, patients with ruptured Achilles tendons undergo surgery where the damaged, fibrous tissue in the Achilles tendon is removed and then a new method of suturing is used where a series of single locking-loop stitches secure tendon ends to bone by tying the sutures to a staple or screw. Other suture methods consist of a series of simple, interrupted sutures that do...