My Research
Summary
Achilles tendinopathy is a common cause of pain and disability that predisposes to complete rupture of the tendon. Achilles tendon rupture results in considerable morbidity and functional impairment. Advances in rehabilitation after an Achilles tendon rupture have demonstrated that immediate weight-bearing within an orthotic is safe, resulting in a quicker return to functional activities when compared to ‘traditional’ plaster casts. However, a Cochrane review has highlighted that there are wide variations in the type of orthotics available, concluding that further randomised controlled trials are required to investigate the optimal rehabilitation strategy.
The proposed research will study healing characteristics, gait parameters and functional outcomes following different immediate weight-bearing rehabilitation protocols. These initial investigations will then inform a protocol for a randomised controlled trial. The key goal of this research is to improve the rehabilitation of patients with a rupture of the Achilles tendon.
Main Objectives
The overall objective is to investigate immediate weight-bearing rehabilitation stratagies following a rupture of the Achilles tendon, leading to the design of a randomised controlled trial to determine how to manage this common musculoskeletal injury. This overall objective will be achieved by the following:
- An evaluation of healing characteristics, gait parameters and functional outcomes following current practice.
- A systematic review of immediate weight-bearing rehabilitation stratagies following an acute rupture of the Achilles tendon
- An evaluation of different orthotic designs on gait papramters within healthy participants.
- An evaluation of healing characteristics, gait parameters and functional outcomes following a change in clinical pratice, based on the above studies.
- Investigate further elemants of valaidity of a new patient reported outcome measure, specific to Achilles tendon ruptures (The Achilles tendon Total Rupture Score)
Further Information
This research is funded by the Arthritis Research Campaign. Details of conference presentations and publications resulting from the above research will be documented on my 'Personal Development' page. Alternativly I can be contacted by e-mail: r.s.kearney@warwick.ac.uk if you would like any further information.
Main Supervisor:
Co-supervisors:
Juul Achten
Tel:02476 968614