Review of Painful Foot and Ankle Conditions —Reply

In Reply I appreciate the comments of Dr Kambi č and colleagues about my Review of Achilles tendinopathy. In regard to the nomenclature, unfortunately, many commonly used labels relating to musculoskeletal conditions are inaccurate (eg, histologically Morton “neuroma” is not a neuroma), and I agree that the common use of the term tendinitis is misleading in regard to the Achilles tendon. This is a degenerative condition involving an abnormal healing response with disorganized collagen fibril formation and an increase in type III collagen, with an absence of inflammatory cells suggested by the term tendintis. These factors help explain the lack of improvement seen with oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications for the treatment of Achilles tendinopathy.
Source: JAMA - Category: General Medicine Source Type: research