Abstract

INTRODUCTION
The Accessory Postero-Lateral (AccPL) portal has recently been described to improve the visualisation for the endoscopic debridement of Haglund's tubercle. The safety of using this portal has been considered previously for posterior ankle arthroscopy. We performed a study to determine the proximity of the AccPL portal to the sural nerve.
METHODS
We compared the distances between AccPL and PL portals to the sural nerve in 17 cadaveric specimens.
RESULTS
The AccPL portal was significantly closer (mean 12.0mm, range 6-19 mm, SD=3.64) to the sural nerve than the PL portal (mean 14.1mm, range 11-18 mm, SD=2.34) (t(16)=-2.34, p=0.03). In two cases the sural nerve was in contact with the clip but on close inspection, the nerve had not been damaged in any of the specimens.
CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that the AccPL portal is a safe method to allow visualisation during endoscopic debridement of the Achilles tendon insertion. We also recommend that the portal is used for visualisation rather than instrumentation.

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Authors

Carmont MR, Stroud R, Bjorndalen H, Crowther J, Ribbans WJ, Griffin D

Institution

The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, the Princess Royal Hospital, Telford, Shropshire, United Kingdom. mcarmont@hotmail.com

Source

Foot and ankle surgery : official journal of the European Society of Foot and Ankle Surgeons 18:2 2012 Jun pg 128-31

MeSH

Achilles Tendon
Arthroscopy
Cadaver
Humans
Risk Factors
Sural Nerve

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article

Language

eng

PubMed ID

22444001