by AceMedEd

Teach card · keep it in your scrub pocket

Achilles tendon rupture

Ask during the case

  1. Prone, before incision: "Where is the sural nerve right now, and which side of the tendon are we cutting on?"
  2. Opening the layers: "What is this thin layer around the tendon, and how far above the insertion are the tendon ends?"
  3. Before closing: "Squeeze the calf. What should the Thompson test and the resting angle of the foot look like next to the other leg?"

Point at: the paratenon edges and the plantaris, and where the sural nerve runs on the lateral side, while they name them.

End of day: "Redraw the cross-section and mark the sural nerve and both incisions." Two minutes, no notes.

Where this kit and your technique differ, yours wins.

Send this to your students

The night before. They prep alone, redraw at turnover, and get a cold check tomorrow morning. They won't see these questions.

Open the student page

Reviewed by Mehdi “AC” Talle, D.O., November 2026. Sources: Netter, Gray's Anatomy and Hoppenfeld's surgical exposures. Teaching schematic, not to scale; anatomy and technique vary. Management and indications are left to you on purpose.