MRI recovery of the Achilles tendon after percutaneous tenotomy in older children

BACKGROUND: An observational study was conducted to evaluate the recovery of older children with relapsed congenital clubfoot who underwent an Achilles tenotomy for the second time as part of the Ponseti treatment. METHODS: Thirteen patients (19 feet) with congenital clubfoot underwent Achilles tenotomy where magnetic resonance images of the severed tendons were taken after 1, 3, and 6 weeks post-procedure. The participants were categorized into older children who underwent tenotomy for the first time (group A: mean, 4.9±1.8, and range, 2.8–7 years old) and older children who underwent tenotomy for a second time (group B: mean, 4.9±1.5, and range, 3–6.8 years old). The area of high signal intensity between the severed tendons on MRI scans was computed using Python programming language and compared with clinical assessment. RESULTS: Three weeks after Achilles tenotomy, groups A and B had clinically intact tendons in 9 out of 11 and 2 out of 8 feet, respectively, according to both clinical and MRI assessment. From week 1 to week 3 post-tenotomy, computational analysis showed that the mean high signal intensity area of group A decreased by 88.5±15.2%, which was significantly different (P .048 < .05) than the percent reduction of high signal intensity area of group B (69.0±24.9%). CONCLUSION: Children who underwent Achilles tenotomy for the second time showed slower tendon recovery on the third week post-procedure. A possible reason for slower healing times may be due to the location of tenotomy in being further away from the musculotendinous junction where extrinsic healing mechanisms take place. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13018-021-02407-4.