Achilles tendon rupture

How it presents

An audible pop from the ankle during football, followed by severe calf pain and being unable to continue walking, is the history that names it.

How it is diagnosed

Simmond's triad is looked for with the patient lying prone and the feet at the edge of the bed:

• An abnormal angle of declination on the affected side
• A gap palpated at the affected side, indicating discontinuity of the tendon
• The ankle stays in its natural position and fails to plantarflex on squeezing the calf, that is a negative Thompson test

US of the ankle is the initial radiological investigation of choice.