Trial reportThe American journal of sports medicine2022
Early Tensile Loading in Nonsurgically Treated Achilles Tendon Ruptures Leads to a Larger Tendon Callus and a Lower Elastic Modulus: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Trial report in The American journal of sports medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of postpartum exercise on pelvic floor disorders and diastasis recti abdominis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.British journal of sports medicine · 2025Pooled it
- How Early Is Early? Defining Functional Rehabilitation After Acute Achilles Tendon Rupture: A Narrative Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Tendon elongation in the free tendon is evident in patients with and without persistent muscle weakness following an Achilles tendon rupture.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2026Article
- In Situ Characterization Reveals an Impaired Fibril Response to Loading Following Unloading during Early Achilles Tendon Healing.ACS biomaterials science & engineering · 2026Article
- Regenerative effects of secretome from tendon-derived stem cells and treadmill training on Achilles tendon healing in rats.Histochemistry and cell biology · 2026Article
- Minimally invasive (ring forceps) versus open Achilles tendon repair: A retrospective comparison of ultrasonographic and functional outcomes.Acta orthopaedica et traumatologica turcica · 2025Article
- Muscle Contraction Is Essential for Tendon Healing and Muscle Function Recovery After Achilles Tendon Rupture and Surgical Repair.Journal of orthopaedic research : official publication of the Orthopaedic Research Society · 2025Article
- Deprivation of loading during rat Achilles tendon healing affects extracellular matrix composition and structure, and reduces cell density and alignment.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Rehabilitation and Return to Sports after Achilles Tendon Repair.International journal of sports physical therapy · 2024Article
- Socioeconomic Status and Race Are Rarely Reported in Randomized Controlled Trials for Achilles Tendon Pathology in the Top 10 Orthopaedic Journals: A Systematic Review.Foot & ankle orthopaedics · 2024Review
- Time to treat the tendon rupture induced by surgery: early hypertrophy of the patellar tendon graft site predicts strong quadriceps after ACLR with bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft.Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy : official journal of the ESSKA · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEarly tensile loading improves material properties of healing Achilles tendon ruptures in animal models and in surgically treated human ruptures. However, the effect of such rehabilitation in patients who are nonsurgically treated remains unknown. HYPOTHESIS: In nonsurgically treated Achilles tendon ruptures, early tensile loading would lead to higher elastic modulus 19 weeks after the injury compared with controls. STUDY
designRandomized controlled trial; Level of evidence, 2.
methodsBetween October 2015 and November 2018, a total of 40 nonsurgically treated patients with acute Achilles tendon rupture were randomized to an early tensile loading (loaded group) or control group. Tantalum bead markers were inserted percutaneously into the tendon stumps 2 weeks after the injury to allow high-precision measurements of callus deformation under mechanical testing. The loaded group used a training pedal twice daily to produce a gradual increase in tensile load during the following 5 weeks. Both groups were allowed full weightbearing in an ankle orthosis and unloaded range of motion exercises. Patients were followed clinically and via roentgen stereophotogrammetric analysis and computed tomography at 7, 19, and 52 weeks after the injury.
resultsThe mean ± standard deviation elastic modulus at 19 weeks was 95.6 ± 38.2 MPa in the loaded group and 108 ± 45.2 MPa in controls (
conclusionEarly tensile loading in nonsurgically treated Achilles tendon ruptures did not lead to higher elastic modulus in the healing tendon but altered the structural properties of the tendon via an increased tendon thickness. REGISTRATION: NCT0280575 (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier).
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.