In-office needle tendoscopy may be effective for chronic Achilles tendinopathy
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Key takeaways:
- In-office needle tendoscopy yielded improvements in short-term clinical and functional outcomes for patients with Achilles tendinopathy.
- Patients reported high satisfaction scores and low rates of complications.
BOSTON — According to presented results, in-office needle tendoscopy yielded improvements in short-term clinical and functional outcomes for patients with midsubstance chronic Achilles tendinopathy.
“The benefit of this procedure is that it includes the use of a very small arthroscope. It’s typically 1.9 mm in diameter, much smaller than the typical [4 mm] arthroscope that’s used in the OR setting,” James J. Butler, MD, MBChB, said in his presentation at the Arthroscopy Association of North America Annual Meeting. “It’s done with the patient wide awake, with the use of no general anesthesia and no tourniquet.”
Butler and colleagues performed a retrospective chart review of 12 patients (mean age, 50.9 years) who underwent 13 in-office needle tendoscopies for the treatment of midsubstance chronic Achilles tendinopathy. The mean follow-up was 26.3 months.
Outcomes included the Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment – Achilles, VAS pain scores, the five-point Likert scale for patient satisfaction, as well as return to work and return to sport.
According to Butler, the minimal clinically important difference was achieved in more than 90% of patients. He said Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment – Achilles scores significantly improved from 35.6 to 83.6, while mean VAS scores significantly improved from 6.6 to 1.3.
Butler and colleagues found 100% of patients returned to work at a mean 4.2 days after surgery. Nine of the 10 patients who participated in sports returned to sport at a mean 5.9 weeks after surgery. In addition, patients reported low rates of postoperative complications and high overall satisfaction scores.
Among the limitations of the study, Butler noted the small sample size at short-term follow-up and lack of a comparative cohort.
“In summary, we were able to demonstrate that Achilles in-office needle tendoscopy is an effective diagnostic and therapeutic tool for the treatment of midsubstance chronic Achilles tendinopathy,” Butler concluded.
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Butler JJ, et al. Outcomes following in-office Achilles needle tendoscopy: A retrospective review. Presented at: Arthroscopy Association of North America Annual Meeting; May 9-11, 2024; Boston.
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