[Research progress of early postoperative rehabilitation for acute Achilles tendon rupture after surgical repair].

OBJECTIVE

To summarize the latest research progress of early postoperative rehabilitation for acute Achilles tendon rupture after surgical repair.

METHODS

The high-quality randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews/meta-analyses regarding early postoperative rehabilitation for acute Achilles tendon rupture in recent years were reviewed.

RESULTS

There are three functional rehabilitations after acute Achilles tendon rupture surgery, including early postoperative mobilization, early weight-bearing with immobilization, and early weight-bearing combined with mobilization. The results of randomized controlled trials show that the effectiveness of early postoperative rehabilitation is similar or better than the early postoperative immobilization. The results of systematic reviews/meta-analyses show that the early postoperative rehabilitation is beneficial to the early function recovery of the Achilles tendon, can reduce the time for functional recovery, and do not adversely affect the outcomes.

CONCLUSION

Early postoperative rehabilitation is beneficial to the functional recovery, and do not increase postoperative complications. There is still no uniform protocol of early postoperative rehabilitation and the timing of weight-bearing, and further studies are needed in the future.