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Epidemiology of A chilles tendon ruptures: Increasing incidence over a 33‐year period
Author(s) -
Lantto I.,
Heikkinen J.,
Flinkkilä T.,
Ohtonen P.,
Leppilahti J.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of medicine and science in sports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.575
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1600-0838
pISSN - 0905-7188
DOI - 10.1111/sms.12253
Subject(s) - incidence (geometry) , medicine , epidemiology , confidence interval , medical record , tendon , surgery , complication , physics , optics
We investigated the epidemiology of total A chilles tendon ruptures and complication rates after operative and nonoperative treatments over a 33‐year period in O ulu, F inland. Patients with A chilles tendon ruptures from 1979 to 2011 in O ulu were identified from hospital patient records. Demographic data, treatment method, and complications were collected retrospectively from medical records. Overall and sex‐ and age‐specific incidence rates were calculated with 95% confidence intervals ( CI s). The overall incidence per 100 000 person‐years increased from 2.1 (95% CI 0.3–7.7) in 1979 to 21.5 (95% CI 14.6–30.6) in 2011. The incidence increased in all age groups. The mean annual increase in incidence was 2.4% (95% CI 1.3–4.7) higher for non‐sports‐related ruptures than for sports‐related ruptures ( P = 0.036). The incidence of sports‐related ruptures increased during the second 11‐year period whereas the incidence of non‐sports‐related ruptures increased steadily over the entire study period. Infection was four times more common after operative treatment compared with nonoperative treatment, re‐rupture rates were similar. The incidence of A chilles tendon ruptures increased in all age groups over a 33‐year period. Increases were mainly due to sports‐related injuries in the second 11‐year period and non‐sports‐related injuries in the last 11‐year period.