The altered sensory-sympathetic innervation suggests a role in the pathophysiology of tendinopathy. Ingrowth of sprouting substance P fibers presumably reflects a nociceptive and maybe a proliferative role, possibly as reactions to repeated microtraumata, whereas the decreased occurrence of tyroxin hydroxylase may represent a reduced antinociceptive role. These findings could be used to develop targeted pharmacotherapy for the specific treatment of tendinopathy.

2Deep vein thrombosis is a common complication when immobilising the lower limb after surgery. We hypothesised that adjuvant intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) during post-operative outpatient immobilisation of the lower limb could reduce the incidence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT).A total of 150 patients with acute Achilles tendon rupture were randomised to either treatment with IPC for six hours daily (n = 74) under an orthosis or treatment as usual (n = 74) in a plaster cast. At two weeks post-operatively the incidence of DVT was assessed using compression duplex ultrasound (CDU) by two ultrasonographers blinded to treatment.After the IPC intervention had ended, all patients were immobilised in the orthosis for another four weeks and a second CDU was performed.Trial registration: www.clinicaltrials.gov; NCT01317160.At two weeks the DVT rate was 21% in the IPC group and 38% in the control group (OR = 2.36; 95% CI 1.11 to 5.01). Age > 39 years was found to be a strong risk factor for DVT (OR = 4.84; 95% CI 2.14 to 10.96). Treatment with IPC corrected for age reduced the risk significantly (OR = 0.36; 95% CI 0.16 to 0.80). At six weeks, however, the frequency of DVT was 49% in the IPC group and 51% in the control group (OR = 0.94; 95% CI 0.49 to 1.83).IPC seems to be an effective method of reducing the risk of early DVT in legimmobilised outpatients. A high risk of DVT during prolonged immobilisation warrants further study. 3

Nerve regeneration and the occurrence of three neuropeptides; i.e. substance P (SP), calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) and galanin (GAL), were studied during healing of tendon rupture in the rat by semi-quantitative immunohistochemistry. The neuronal findings were related to nociception as assessed by hindpaw withdrawal latencies at thermal and mechanical tests.Experimental rupture of rat Achilles tendon-normally devoid of nerves-licited extensive nerve ingrowth into the rupture site in the early phase of healing followed by almost complete fiber disappearance (weeks 12-16). The ingrowth of SP and CGRP positive fibers, seen already at weeks 1-2, was associated with increased nociception. Subsequently, the occurrence of GAL positive fibers at weeks 4-6 was associated with decreased nociception. An even stronger relationship to nociception during healing was observed when the rate of change in neuropeptide expression instead of the expression in absolute terms was considered, according to the "cascade" formula of SP' + CGRP' -GAL'.It may prove that the observed temporal occurrence of different neuropeptides reflects a role of the peripheral nervous system in regulating synchronously nociception and healing.

Context: Tendinopathy is increasing in prevalence and accounts for a substantial part of all sports injuries and occupational disorders. Despite the magnitude of the disorder, high-quality scientific data on etiology and available treatments have been limited. Evidence Acquisition: The authors conducted a MEDLINE search on tendinopathy, or “tendonitis” or “tendinosis” or “epicondylitis” or “jumpers knee” from 1980 to 2011. The emphasis was placed on updates on epidemiology, etiology, and recent patient-oriented Level 1 literature. Results: Repetitive exposure in combination with recently discovered intrinsic factors, such as genetic variants of matrix proteins, and metabolic disorders is a risk factor for the development of tendinopathy. Recent findings demonstrate that tendinosis is characterized by a fibrotic, failed healing response associated with pathological vessel and sensory nerve ingrowth. This aberrant sensory nerve sprouting may partly explain increased pain signaling and partly, by release of neuronal mediators, contribute to the fibrotic alterations observed in tendinopathy. The initial nonoperative treatment should involve eccentric exercise, which should be the cornerstone (basis) of treatment of tendinopathy. Eccentric training combined with extracorporeal shockwave treatment has in some reports shown higher success rates compared to any therapies alone. Injection therapies (cortisone, sclerosing agents, blood products including platelet-rich plasma) may have short-term effects but have no proven long-term treatment effects or meta-analyses to support them. For epicondylitis, cortisone injections have demonstrated poorer long-time results than conservative physiotherapy. Today surgery is less indicated because of successful conservative therapies. New minioperative procedures that, via the endoscope, remove pathologic tissue or abnormal neoinnervation demonstrate promising results but need confirmation by Level 1 studies. Conclusions: Novel targeted therapies are emerging, but multicenter trials are needed to confirm the results of exercise and mini-invasive treatments.

Purpose To perform a meta-analysis investigating venous thromboembolism (VTE) following isolated foot and ankle surgery and propose guidelines for VTE prevention in this group of patients.MethodsFollowing a PRISMA compliant search, 372 papers were identified and meta-analysis performed on 22 papers using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme and Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine level of evidence.Results 43,381 patients were clinically assessed for VTE and the incidence with and without chemoprophylaxis was 0.6 % (95 % CI 0.4–0.8 %) and 1 % (95 % CI 0.2–1.7 %), respectively. 1666 Patients were assessed radiologically and the incidence of VTE with and without chemoprophylaxis was 12.5 % (95 % CI 6.8–18.2 %) and 10.5 % (95 % CI 5.0–15.9 %), respectively. There was no significant difference in the rates of VTE with or without chemoprophylaxis whether assessed clinically or by radiological criteria. The risk of VTE in those patients with Achilles tendon rupture was greater with a clinical incidence of 7 % (95 % CI 5.5–8.5 %) and radiological incidence of 35.3 % (95 % CI 26.4–44.3 %).ConclusionIsolated foot and ankle surgery has a lower incidence of clinically apparent VTE when compared to general lower limb procedures, and this rate is not significantly reduced using low molecular weight heparin. The incidence of VTE following Achilles tendon rupture is high whether treated surgically or conservatively. With the exception of those with Achilles tendon rupture, routine use of chemical VTE prophylaxis is not justified in those undergoing isolated foot and ankle surgery, but patient-specific risk factors for VTE should be used to assess patients individually.Level of evidenceII.