Foot/Ankle News

BOSTON — There was no significant difference in tendon length 12 weeks after Achilles tendon repair in patients who underwent accelerated rehabilitation compared with traditional rehabilitation, according to a presenter at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Annual Meeting. However, patients who underwent accelerated rehabilitation had an increased amount of lengthening at 6 weeks postoperatively.

BOSTON — A significantly higher modified MR observation of cartilage repair tissue score was seen in patients with osteochondral lesions of the talus treated with particulate allogenic cartilage extracellular matrix and bone marrow aspirate concentrate compared to patients treated with microfracture alone, according to a presentation at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Annual Meeting. According to researchers, the findings suggest the adjuvant therapy may be linked with better postoperative fill and structural integrity.

The FDA has approved several generic versions of pregabalin for the treatment of patients with neuropathic pain related to diabetic neuropathy, postherpetic neuralgia, partial onset seizures, fibromyalgia and spinal cord injury.

Opioid prescriptions were filled by 11.9% of patients with an ankle sprain within 7 days of diagnosis and 8.4% of opioid-naive patients had continued opioid use more than 90 days after injury, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Treatment of Lisfranc injuries with open reduction internal fixation or ORIF was associated with lower costs and fewer complications than primary arthrodesis, but there were higher hardware removal rates with ORIF, according to results presented at the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society Annual Meeting.

Researchers suggested that diabetic foot osteomyelitis — which results in worse outcomes compared with soft tissue infections — should be separated into its own category in the Infectious Diseases Society of America’s diabetic foot classification system to better guide treatment and improve outcomes.

LISBON, Portugal — Two techniques studied by investigators to repair the lateral ligaments of the ankle both effectively restored ankle stability, an orthopedic surgeon from Portugal said.

Exactech announced it has acquired Epic Extremity, a screw and plating company, after distributing the Epic Extremity Foot and Ankle Reconstruction System for the past year.

Skeletally immature patients with pronation-external rotation ankle fracture patterns were more likely to experience premature physeal closure associated with angular deformity than patients with supination-external rotation or supination-plantar flexion ankle fracture patterns, according to results.

The positive correlation of fracture energy with Sanders classification for displaced intra-articular calcaneal fractures may be used to identify more severe fractures at greater risk of post-traumatic osteoarthritis, according to published results.