Summary

Our study demonstrates the peroneus longus tendon harvest had same strength, functional improvement and alignment as that of the normal ankle.

Abstract

Background

Knee ligament injuries are more commonly encountered worldwide. Of which, anterior cruciate ligament injuries are very frequent. Traditionally, they are managed by anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using tendon graft. Conventionally it is thought that peroneus tendons are less preferred due to the fact that they can cause functional limitations on the ankle.This study was done to find out the strength of peroneus longus harvested ankle biomechanically and functionally to that of normal ankle using dynamometers and AOFAS score.

Methodology

30 patients who have undergone Peroneus longus harvesting procedure were included in our study, consent was obtained. Biomechanical and functional analysis were done using dynamometer and AOFAS score at Pre-op, day 14, 1st month and 3rd month measured in both harvested and normal ankle.Results were analysed.

Results

The mean age was 32.00 + 9.69 years with higher incidence in males. Preoperatively both harvested and normal ankle had similar value and were not significant. At day 14 and 1st month, all their parameters were significantly less in harvested ankle compared to normal ankle. At 3rd month, plantar flexion(83.20 + 11.75) and eversion (47.73 + 8.26) regained its strength similar to the normal ankle where the values were 86.16 + 16.38 and 50.48+ 7.39 respectively.

Conclusion

Biomechanical scores of harvested ankle has shown similar scores as that of normal ankle demystifying the belief that peroneus graft is less superior and cause ankle morbidity.While there are numerous studies in literature done with peroneus graft but mostly all analysed functionally, our study analysed both biomechanically using dynamometer and functionally. To conclude, the peroneus longus tendon harvest had same strength, functional improvement and alignment as that of the normal ankle.