Tendon Repair

Tendon repair is surgery to stitch together a cut or ruptured tendon, the cord that connects muscle to bone. The most frequent examples are finger tendons cut by glass or a knife, the Achilles tendon, and the biceps and quadriceps tendons torn by sudden load.

A sound repair restores the pull of the muscle. Tendons heal slowly and tend to stick to their surroundings, so the final movement depends as much on months of guided therapy as on the operation.

What Tendon Repair involves

The wound is extended, or a new incision made, to find both tendon ends, which often retract several centimetres. Ends are trimmed minimally. In the hand, flexor tendons are joined inside their sheath with a strong core suture of four or more strands plus a fine running stitch around the edge, so the repair glides and tolerates early motion; pulleys are preserved. The Achilles tendon is repaired open with locking stitches or through small stab cuts using a guide that passes sutures percutaneously. Tendons torn off bone, such as the distal biceps or quadriceps, are reattached with anchors, a button or drill tunnels. Old ruptures with a gap may need a tendon graft or transfer. The limb is then splinted with the repair relaxed.

Who is a good candidate for Tendon Repair?

Best results come from repair within days to two weeks of injury, before the tendon ends shorten and scar.

• Cut flexor or extensor tendons in the hand or wrist
• Achilles rupture in active people, or with a gap that persists when the foot points down
• Distal biceps rupture in people needing forearm rotation strength
• Quadriceps or patellar tendon rupture, which almost always needs surgery

It is usually not the right choice if:

• Many Achilles ruptures, which heal equally well in a boot with a functional rehabilitation protocol
• Long head of biceps rupture at the shoulder in older people, mostly a cosmetic issue
• Chronic degenerative tears with poor tissue, which need reconstruction not direct repair
• Dirty or infected wounds, until clean

Technique options

• Multi strand core suture: Standard for flexor tendons to permit early active motion.
• Percutaneous or mini open Achilles repair: Fewer wound problems than fully open repair; care needed to protect the sural nerve.
• Anchor or button fixation: For tendons pulled off bone.
• Tendon graft or transfer: For late presentations with a gap; sometimes staged with a silicone rod in the hand.
• Tenolysis: Later release of adhesions if gliding is poor after healing.

What happens during your treatment

Operations take 30 to 90 minutes. Hand tendons are often repaired under regional block or wide awake local anaesthetic, so you can move the finger to test the repair. Leg tendons are done under spinal or general anaesthetic. Most are day cases.

Preparing for your trip

Plan for Best treated where the injury occurs in Istanbul. Your surgeon reviews photographs and your medical history before you book, and you meet in person the day before surgery for examination, marking and consent with a professional interpreter.

• Stop smoking and nicotine at least four weeks before and after surgery; it is the single biggest avoidable cause of wound problems
• Tell the team about every medicine and supplement you take; blood thinners, some herbal products and hormone treatment may need to be paused on your doctor's advice
• Arrange for someone to travel with you or to be reachable, and keep the first days at home free of work and lifting
• Book a changeable return flight; your surgeon confirms when you are fit to fly

Recovery and results

Protection lasts about 6 weeks and full strength takes 3 to 6 months. Hand repairs need a splint and a therapist led exercise schedule beginning within days; too little movement causes sticking, too much causes rupture. After Achilles repair you walk in a boot with heel wedges removed stepwise over 6 to 8 weeks; running returns around 4 to 6 months.

• Back to everyday activity: 6 weeks protected
• When results show: Function returns over 3 to 6 months
• How long they last: Permanent once healed

Safety, risks and revision policy

The specific risks are re-rupture and adhesions.

• Re-rupture, most likely between weeks 1 and 6
• Adhesions limiting glide and leaving a stiff finger or ankle
• Wound healing problems and infection, notably over the Achilles
• Nerve injury: digital nerves in the hand, sural nerve at the ankle, forearm sensory nerve with biceps repair
• Loss of full strength or push off power
• Deep vein thrombosis after lower limb immobilisation

Every written proposal arranged through Clinic-Y states what the clinic covers if a correction is needed. Ask for it before you book, not after.

Cost of Tendon Repair in Türkiye

Clinic-Y does not publish a single price for Tendon Repair, because the honest figure depends on your case. What moves it:

• Which tendon and how many
• Fresh repair versus late reconstruction with graft
• Anaesthesia type
• Custom splints and hand therapy sessions
• Imaging such as ultrasound or MRI

Send your photographs or reports and you receive written, all-inclusive proposals from suitable teams, side by side. Reviewing your case is free.

Frequently Asked Questions