Achilles Tendon Ruptures in Basketball

Abstract

Basketball is a springing, jumping, and sprinting sport with players repetitively jumping to play shots and to make and receive passes or work sudden sprints together with the start–stop nature of the game. In the United States, sporting activity was responsible for 68% tendon ruptures, of which basketball was the most commonly involved sport, accounting for 48% of sports-related ruptures. There has been considerable debate as to whether operative or nonoperative treatment leads to the best outcome. Operative treatment may reduce the resultant calf muscle weakness, tendon elongation, predictability of outcome, and re-rupture rate compared with nonoperative treatment. Patients undergoing minimally invasive surgery are significantly more likely to report a satisfactory subjective outcome compared with open surgery. The overall rate of return to play (RTP) in all sports following Achilles tendon rupture has been estimated to 80%. However, for players in the National Basketball Association (NBA) who sustained an Achilles tendon rupture, more than a third (36.8%) either did not return to play or started in fewer than 10 games for the remainder of their career. Twenty-one percent of ruptures led to retirement. The mean time to return to play was 10.5 months, and the rate of return to play was lower in the NBA, 61–71%, compared with that of the National Football League players, 64–71%. Achilles tendon rupture in elite basketball players continues to be a serious, potentially career ending, injury.