Achilles tendon

The Achilles tendon ( tendo calcaneus or Latin Tendo Achillis ) is the common terminal tendon of the three-headed calf muscle ( triceps surae ), consisting of the two-headed calf ( gastrocnemius muscle ) and the soleus ( soleus ) to the heel.

Achilles tendon in humans

The Achilles tendon is the thickest and strongest tendon of the human being. She sits in the back up on the calcaneal tuberosity of the calcaneus ( calcaneus ) on the entire width of this bone protrusion. Then it runs, something becoming less straight up, has its narrowest point approximately 4 cm above the origin to again be continuously wider from there. The average length is 20-25 cm, with almost advertise on the front to approach muscle fibers. The average cross section is 80 mm ².

The Achilles tendon transmits the force of the triceps surae, which consists of the gastrocnemius muscle ( two heads, springs from both sides of the femur in the knee ) and the soleus muscle ( a head, origin on the rear side of the tibia, and the back of the neck and head of the fibula ). So that the tendon allows especially powerful plantar flexion ( bending of the foot in the direction of the sole of the foot ), but the inverse ( supination Auswärtskantung ) of the foot.

The Achilles tendon reflex ( plantar flexion of the foot to strike the slightly pre-stretched tendon ) is the characteristic reflection for the segment S1 ( S2 ).

Achilles Tendon Rupture

The Achilles tendon is grown loads of 60-100 N / mm ², equivalent to 80 mm ² for loads up to 800 kg. A tear of the Achilles tendon in case of sudden contraction of the triceps surae therefore usually occurs only in pre-damage by over-and improper loading. The tendon experiences again and again minor injuries that interfere with the blood supply to the tissues and thus lead to degeneration of strength. These changes have the greatest impact in a region 2-6 cm above the insertion of ( so-called " Achilles waist " ), where the tendon is the worst supplied, and where in most cases also the crack occurs. The tendon tears then suddenly with a loud, whip-cracking -like noise. The plantar flexion is then only a very limited extent.

In principle, you can proceed conservatively or operatively with a crack. In young, athletic individuals is usually aimed at more of a surgical care, because on the one hand a safe approximation of the two tendon stumps is ensured and on the other hand quite a high primary stability is achieved, which is again in the further treatment of great advantage. In older people, or skin problems ( varicose veins, "cortisone skin") may well be chosen a conservative approach. It should be controlled as far as possible by means of ultrasound, whether to approach the two ends of the tendon tear in plantar flexion of the ankle.

Achilles tendon in animals

In the four-footed mammals radiate more muscles ( semitendinosus, biceps femoris muscle, the flexor digitorum superficialis pedis ) in the Achilles tendon so that the tendon strand of the heel of the animals can not be equated to the Achilles tendon of human beings. Therefore He is called common heel tendon strand ( Tendo calcaneus communis). Under his approach is a bursa (Bursa subtendinea calcanea ), the swelling is referred to as eggs bile. Also, between the skin and heel tendon strand is a bursa (Bursa subcutanea calcanea ) present whose swelling is called beep hoe.

Historical origin of the name

The naming of the Achilles tendon is developed based on the legend of Achilles, a hero of Greek mythology. Achilles (Eng. Achilles or Achilles, Greek Ἀχιλλεύς ) In Greek mythology, the son of Peleus and the sea nymph Thetis. As the son of a human father and a divine mother he was mortal. Thetis tried to make him at least invulnerable and bathed him in the River Styx, the river that separates the Underworld from the upper world. The point at the heel, where it held Achilles by hand, but remained unwetted from the water of the river, and thus became the only weak spot (→ Achilles heel).