The Peroneal Tendons, More Than Just Evertors of the Ankle?

Preoperative Gait Analysis of Peroneal Tendon Tears, a retrospective case series published in Foot & Ankle International, for the first time quantified preoperative gait changes with peroneal tendon tears confirmed intraoperatively.

What we already knew

Predictably, gait impairments were strongly associated with the severity of the peroneal tendon tears.

What we didn’t know

Changes in the ankle range of motion, moment arm and power predominated in the sagittal plane ­– not the coronal. Most notably, a 44% decrease in ankle sagittal power occurred with pathology in both tendons, suggesting a greater contribution of the tendons to the ankles mechanics in the sagittal plane.

This series will serve as a foundation for future studies on quantifying functional improvements after various peroneal tendon repair/reconstruction techniques.