Peroneal Tendon Tears: Return to Sports after Operative Treatment

Abstract

Background: Operative treatment has become the standard for peroneal tendon tears when nonoperative management fails. Successful return to sports has been reported in previous studies. We evaluated 30 patients who had operative treatment of peroneal tears. Methods: Patients who were evaluated by a questionnaire and by review of medical records, MRI, radiographs, and operative reports. Results: Nine of the 10 patients who were working outside the home were able to return to employment at the same level. A substantial number had residual symptoms, including scar tenderness (58%) and lateral ankle swelling (54%). Only 46% were able to successfully return to sports. Conclusions: Although operative treatment was very effective in allowing patients to return to work, only half of our patients were able to return to sports at an average followup of 31 months.