Purpose: The purpose of this study was to provide an overview of the available evidence on rehabilitation programmes after operatively treated patients with peroneal tendon tearsand ruptures.
Methods: A systematic review was performed, and PubMed and EMBASE were searched for relevant studies. Information regarding the rehabilitation programme after surgical management of peroneal tendon tears and ruptures was extracted from all included studies.
Results: In total, 49 studies were included. No studies were found with the primary purpose to report on rehabilitation of surgically treated peroneal tendon tears or ruptures. The median duration of the total immobilization period after primary repair was 6.0 weeks (range 0-12), 7.0 weeks (range 3.0-13) after tenodesis, 6.3 weeks (range 3.0-13) after grafting, and 8.0 weeks (range 6.0-11) after end-to-end suturing. Forty one percent of the studies that reported on the start of range of motion exercises initiated range of motion within 4 weeks after surgery. No difference was found in duration of immobilization or start of range of motion between different types of surgical treatment options.
Conclusion: Appropriate directed rehabilitation appears to be an important factor in the clinical success of surgically treated peroneal tendon tears and ruptures. There seems to be a trend towards shorter immobilization time and early range of motion, although there is no consensus in the literature on best practice recommendations for optimizing rehabilitation after surgical repair of peroneal tendon tears or ruptures. It is important to adjust the rehabilitation protocol to every specific patient for an optimal rehabilitation.
Level of evidence: Systematic Review, Level IV.
Keywords: Peroneal tendon; Physical therapy; Rehabilitation; Rupture; Tear; Tendon; Tendon healing.