A vascularised gracilis flap with tibial bone for the reconstruction of the Achilles tendon.

Abstract

Rupture of the Achilles tendon is a very common trauma. Reconstruction of a chronic Achilles tendon defect is challenging for reconstructive surgeons, and several methods have been described. The ideal reconstruction would result in the patients resuming the activity level they were accustomed to before the injury. In our patient, the Achilles tendon was reconstructed using the gracilis muscle flap, and the flap was fixed using a fragment of the tibial bone, yielding satisfactory results. In this report, we describe this procedure employed and provide a description of the case.