Achilles Tendon

Authors

Affiliations

Nate Yomogida, B.S., SPT

Doctor of Physical Therapy

B.S. in Kinesiology

Chloë Kerstein, B.S., SPT

Doctor of Physical Therapy

B.A. in Neuroscience

Figure 1: Muscles of the lower leg¹

Figure 2: Superficial posterior leg muscles²

The Mucous sheaths of the tendons around the ankle (medial view)²

Palpation

“The Achilles tendon is inspected for contour changes such as swelling, erythema, and thickening. Any gaps or nodules in the tendon and specific sites of pain should be carefully examined. Palpation of a tendon gap has been shown to demonstrate a moderate capacity (+LR 6.64) to confirm an Achilles tendon rupture but a moderate to low sensitivity, as well as a −LR (0.30), indicating that this test should not be used in isolation for screening purposes.70 For example, the presence of a palpable gap in the tendon accompanied by an inability to rise up on the toes would be a better indicator for a rupture of the tendon.”³

References

1.

Betts JG, Blaker W. Anatomy and Physiology. 2nd ed. OpenStax; 2022. https://openstax.org/details/books/anatomy-and-physiology-2e/?Book%20details

2.

Gray H. Anatomy of the Human Body. 20th ed. (Lewis WH, ed.). Lea & Febiger; 1918. https://www.bartleby.com/107/

3.

Dutton M. Dutton’s Orthopaedic Examination, Evaluation, and Intervention. 5th ed. McGraw Hill Education; 2020.