Browsing by Author "Maffulli, Nicola"
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Item Achilles insertional tendinopathy: state of the art(2019) Maffulli, Nicola; Saxena, Amol; Wagner, Emilio; Torre, GuglielmoAchilles tendon pathology is a most common musculoskeletal condition in active individuals and athletes. Almost 6% of the general population will suffer from such ailment in their lifetime. Insertional Achilles tendinopathy (IAT) differs in its physiopathology, clinical features and treatment from midportion tendinopathy. The literature has mainly focused on assessment, outcome evaluation and treatment of IAT, although differences in management according to different geographical regions have not been addressed. The principles of clinical evaluation and imaging assessment of IAT are well established, with a major role of clinical assessment and soft tissue imaging, including ultrasonography and MRI. Conservative management options include eccentric training, extracorporeal shockwave therapy and prolotherapy, or a combination of these modalities. Recently, regenerative medicine has been more widely used, with at times dubious results. Surgery is advocated where conservative treatment is not beneficial within 6 months. Surgery includes more or less extensive debridement of peritendinous bony and soft tissue structures. To improve our knowledge about IAT, more evidence should be provided concerning innovative treatments, especially considering growth factors injections and percutaneous surgery.Item Biomechanical evaluation of various suture configurations in side-to-side tenorrhaphy.(Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2014) Wagner, Emilio; Ortiz, Cristián; Wagner, Pablo; Guzman, Rodrigo; Ahumada, Ximena; Maffulli, NicolaBACKGROUND: Side-to-side tenorrhaphy is increasingly used, but its mechanical performance has not been studied. METHODS: Two porcine flexor digitorum tendon segments of equal length (8 cm) and thickness (1 cm) were placed side by side. Eight tenorrhaphies (involving sixteen tendons) were performed with each of four suture techniques (running locked, simple eight, vertical mattress, and pulley suture). The resulting constructs underwent cyclic loading on a tensile testing machine, followed by monotonically increasing tensile load if failure during cyclic loading did not occur. Clamps secured the tendons on each side of the repair, and specimens were mounted vertically. Cyclic loading varied between 15 N and 35 N, with a distension rate of 1 mm/sec. Cyclic loading strength was determined by applying a force of 70 N. The cause of failure and tendon distension during loading were recorded. RESULTS: All failures occurred in the monotonic loading phase and resulted from tendon stripping. No suture or knot failure was observed. The mean loads resisted by the configurations ranged from 138 to 398 N. The mean load to failure, maximum load resisted prior to 1 cm of distension, and load resisted at 1 cm of distension were significantly lower for the vertical mattress suture group than for any of the other three groups (p < 0.031). CONCLUSIONS: All four groups sustained loads well above the physiologic loads expected to occur in tendons in the foot and ankle (e.g., in tendon transfer for tibialis posterior tendon insufficiency). None of the four side-to-side configurations distended appreciably during the cyclic loading phase. The vertical mattress suture configuration appeared to be weaker than the other configurations. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: For surgeons who advocate immediate loading or motion of a side-to-side tendon repair, a pulley, running locked, or simple eight suture technique appears to provide a larger safety margin compared with a vertical mattress suture technique.Item Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the VISA-A questionnaire for Chilean Spanish-speaking patients(2018) Keller, Andrés; Wagner, Pablo; Izquierdo, Guillermo; Cabrolier, Jorge; Caicedo, Nathaly; Wagner; Maffulli, NicolaBackground: The purpose of this study is to translate, culturally adapt, and validate the VISA-A questionnaire for Chilean Spanish speakers with Achilles tendinopathy (AT), which has been originally developed for English-speaking population. Methods: According to the guidelines published by Beaton et al., the questionnaire was translated and culturally adapted to Chilean patients in six steps: initial translation, synthesis of the translation, back translation, expert committee review, test of the pre-final version (cohort n = 35), and development of VISA-A-CH. The resulting Chilean version was tested for validity on 60 patients: 20 healthy individuals (group 1), 20 patients with a recently diagnosed AT (group 2), and 20 with a severe AT that already initiated conservative treatment with no clinical improvement (group 3). The questionnaire was completed three times by each participant: at the time of study enrollment, after an hour, and after a week of the initial test. Results: All six steps were successfully completed for the translation and cultural adaptation of the VISA-A-CH. VISA-A-CH final mean scores in the healthy group was significantly higher than those in the other groups. Group 3 had the lowest scores. Validity showed excellent test-retest reliability (rho c = 0.999; Pearson’s r = 1.000) within an hour and within a week (rho c = 0.837; Pearson’s r = 0.840). Conclusions: VISA-A was translated and validated to Chilean Spanish speakers successfully, being comparable to the original version. We believe that VISA-A-CH can be recommended as an important tool for clinical and research settings in Chilean and probably Latin-American Spanish speakers.