Debride, Refill, Fertilize: Technique Description with Corresponding Case Report of a Novel, Minimally Invasive Treatment for Achilles Tendon Partial Tears

Treatment of midportion Achilles tendinopathy and partial tear pathology is particularly challenging, with surgical treatments characterized by prolonged recoveries, modest outcomes, and up to 11% complication rate, while more recent minimally invasive strategies including percutaneous tenotomy, platelet-rich plasma injection, and tendon hydrodissection have at best demonstrated mixed results. We hypothesize that failures from available surgical and minimally invasive treatments occur because they address only part of the pathology (e.g., orthobiologics focused on promoting tendon growth without addressing the burden of diseased, degenerative tendon tissue). Similarly, percutaneous or surgical debridement while removing pathologic tissue unfortunately leaves large voids in the tendon with hopes of creating a vascular and healing response that will fill the void. Herein, we present a novel multifaceted approach with a corresponding case report of three sequential, minimally invasive therapies utilizing unique yet complimentary mechanisms of action: debridement with percutaneous ultrasonic tenotomy, tissue void grafting with allograft connective tissue matrix, and promotion of tendon repair/regeneration with harvested bone marrow concentrate. This case is of a 39-year-old male recreational athlete who failed two years of conservative care and orthobiologic injections for his midportion Achilles tendinopathy and partial tear. Following treatment with percutaneous ultrasonic tenotomy and injection of allograft connective tissue matrix along with autologous bone marrow concentrate, he returned to most athletic activities by three months and ultimately achieved a full asymptomatic and functional recovery by six months with complete healing of his partial tendon tear on follow-up magnetic resonance imaging.