Reduction in Early Postoperative Pain After Open Achilles Tendon Repair Using Human Placental Allograft

Lower extremity tendon repair can be associated with postoperative pain due to tissue adhesions, fibrosis, and inflammation. Human placental allograft demonstrates anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiadhesive, and antifibrotic properties, but data on its use in orthopaedic surgery is limited. This study compares postoperative pain scores in patients undergoing Achilles tendon repair with adjunctive allograft compared with those without. All patients who underwent open Achilles tendon repair from January 1, 2022 to October 31, 2023 were included in this retrospective study. Numerical pain scores (0 to 10) were obtained at preoperative, 2-week and 4-week postoperative clinic visits. Mean pain scores of patients with and without an allograft were compared. Of 26 total patients, 16 (61.54%) underwent repair with allograft. In this group, the mean preoperative pain score was 3.25. This group showed a much larger and statistically significant decrease in pain to 0.75 ( P= 0.005) at 2 weeks postop compared with those who did not receive allograft (from 3.00 to 2.60). There is limited data to support the regular use of human placental allograft in orthopaedic foot and ankle surgery. Future studies are necessary to evaluate a larger cohort of patients with longer follow-up, but this study suggests favorable outcomes with the use of an adjunctive human placental allograft. Level of Evidence: Level III.