Abstract
A 40-year-old man with early arthritis, loose bodies, and anterolateral joint impingement
symptoms in his left ankle, which was refractory to noninvasive therapeutic modalities
for 1 year, underwent ankle arthroscopy and radiofrequency thermal ablation. The anterior
capsule of the ankle joint was breached by the radiofrequency probe while the loose
bodies were removed from the anterior recess, exposing the extensor tendons and resulting
in a delayed spontaneous rupture of the extensor hallucis longus tendon and extensor
tendons to the second and third toes. The extensor hallucis longus tendon was repaired
with a semitendinosus tendon graft, and extensor digitorum tendons underwent primary
repair. The patient regained full function and was symptom free 1 year after surgery.
Level of Clinical Evidence
Keywords
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References
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 24, 2010
Footnotes
Financial Disclosure: None reported.
Conflict of Interest: None reported.
Identification
Copyright
© 2010 American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
