“Surgical question (distal bicep tendon)?”
I was diagnosed with a ruptured distal bicep tendon. My question is: Can waiting longer than 3 weeks for this type of surgery cause permanent damage?
Male | 35 years old
5 Answers
OrthopaedicSurgerysurgeon
A ruptured tendon is permanent damage without surgery - a 3 week delay will not lead to other injuries if you listen to your body and its current limitations.
The longer you wait, the more difficult it is to repair surgically. If you do not get it repaired, you will most likely lose some strength in your forearm and hand including with rotation of the forearm.
Yes. For best results, it should be repaired within 2 weeks of the rupture. The longer you wait the results of surgery go down.
Hope it helps!!
Dr. Bose
Hope it helps!!
Dr. Bose
The longer you wait the more difficult the surgery will be because the tendon retracts into the biceps (up the arm) over time and will have to be fished out / extracted towards where it has to be fixed back into the bone. Over time it will start scarring into the muscle there and at some point it will become impossible to do a direct repair but this will not happen in 3 weeks (takes longer for that to happen)
It depends on your healing process, but normally, no.
