Splits in the peroneal tendons are difficult problems, but you want to heal as quickly as possible, and you don’t want to lose all your fitness while you are recovering.
Fabulous explanation. After a previous IT band and groin strain 2 years ago I knew the mantra when I got my ankle injury 2 weeks ago from running intervals: Immediately stop running! So now it's stretch lightly and strengthen ankle drills low reps for now and monitor pain after just 1-2 km walks with extra cushioned shoes. Patience is called for.
So 3 weeks post Peroneal tendon resection. After consults with 3 surgeons (who only agreed on the tendon repair) and 3 differing opinions I opted to go with 3 procedures. Tendon repair, Heel Dwyer osteotomy (cavus foot) and the 1st metatarsal wedge osteotomy. The procedure lasted 4 hours here in Ft Myers. 1 week post op I was so excited to hear from the surgeon and see the imaging. Surgeon walked in with a stoic face and said there was a problem. Actually 2 problems. The heel osteotomy had 1 protruding screw head that you can palpate and the heel slide was not level. It was about 6-8mm elevated from the plantar surface bone creating a ridge of bone that I will be stepping on once weight bearing. To his credit he did own the errors but that simply infuriates me as he is not the one that will have to deal with 1/2 more procedures because of his errors. He even did this under fluoroscopy which makes this more puzzling. He gave me the option to redo the heel osteotomy and I chose to not allow him to ever touch my foot again. Choose your surgeon wisely folks.. It really does matter!!
This is the worst injury I have ever had. Broken bones don't compare when you are an active person. I split my peroneal and brevis tendon almost 3 years ago and walked for 2 months till it was unbearable. Got surgery and recovered pretty fast in 6 months with physiotherapy but it split again just by walking on uneven surfaces during winter. My option now after 3 years is getting surgery again. But it is highly unlikely that it will hold because it was in very bad shape before surgery. If this surgery does not work he told me he could remove the peroneal tendon completely. I think that is not a better option.
Hi Christopher, thanks for all your video’s, they’re absolutely brilliant! I’m a physio in the UK and my husband is a keen ultra runner. He’s just found out he has a 2.3cm split tear of the peroneus brevis, diagnosed via ultrasound, which is behind the lateral malleolus. There is also an associated lump in this region which was what led him to seek further imaging / medical attention. He’s been advised by a surgeon to continue with Physiotherapy, which he has been doing for the last 9 months. The information that you have provided about a peroneus brevis tear in this specific location makes complete sense, and we’ve spent many hours trying to find further information / evidence around the likeliness of a tear of this nature healing with time / patience / optimal loading and I wondered if there are any current studies / evidence that you may be able to point us in the direction of?
I'm not a runner but developed the kind of ankle pain you describe. Tests show a peroneal split tear. Doctor highly recommended surgery but I will now get a couple more opinions. He did say that MRIs can be tricky.
Thank you for this information. I felt a rip in ankle a few years ago-didn't cause me much trouble, so never had it checked. I also had a mass which was growing and the MRI showed the longitudinal tear of the Peroneal Brevis. I recently had surgery and am in a boot. This has been more painful that the problem-so I wondered if I did the right thing. You convinced me it was the best decision for me--I ran years ago-but not in a long time and recently retired-so would like to eventually restart. Your video was very focused and provided the information I needed.
I watched the video. I didn't hear you mention the upper split of peroneus longus(outside of the calf muscle,just bellow the knee). I got my injury 4 weeks ago,when I tried to run barefoot on a threadmill. It doesn't hurt when i move the leg in any direction,I can do squats,deadlifts and calf raises with no pain but I can't run. The pain appears only when I try to run even for 15minutes slowly,and it lasts for a day and goes away.
I have this but because of cavo varus foot my surgeon wants to do calcaneal osteotomy and tendon transfers. I'm concerned the surgery might actually make it worse or I will be unable to run again after.
Thank you for the informed presentation. For a split peroneal brevis tendon near the fibula and requires surgery- how approximately how long is the recovery for that type of surgery? I have the split brevis and I am hoping to compete in the Boston Marathon April 2023.
I had an MRI this week and it confirmed a partial longitudinal split of the Peroneus Brevis tendon in the distal side of lateral malleoli. Apparently there was no dislocation or subluxation. My ortho seemed very casual about it and just told me to avoid exercise that puts great pressure to the ankle. But shouldn't this type of an injury require a surgery?
Can my doctor tell me if I need a surgery by looking at my ankle? MRI tells me I have a split tear. I was on a cast for Achilles injury, but not sure if my other tears can be fixed
Was diagnosed with a partial tear in the peroneal tendon. How is that different? I’ve recently been diagnosed. Been walking on it for two years with some pain and every so often some very good days. Never could run however. When I finally decided to seek a second opinion I had an mri done. Since then I feel like my foot has grown worse in the boot (so it feels). Essentially I feel like there is no hope and that I’ll never run and that I’ll require surgery.
