Methods
acute rheumatic disease, rupture
COVID-19 INFECTION
Overall, 17 older patients were surgically treated within 4 weeks after acute proximal hamstring rupture between 2014 and 2019 at a single hospital by a single senior surgeon and all received the extraanatomical anchor positioning procedure. All patients were contacted retrospectively at the time of the study (November 2020 to June 2021) by the administrative personnel of our clinic and asked to participate in the follow-up examination. Inclusion criteria were age > 18 years and surgical repair with modified anchor placement surgically treated proximal hamstring ruptures between 2014 and 2019. Exclusion criteria were revision surgery within 6 months before testing on the ipsilateral knee and hip, injury and surgical procedures of the contralateral knee and hip within the last year, and inability to provide informed consent. The study was approved by the regional ethics committee. All participants signed informed consent prior to participation.Of the 17 patients treated, 13 agreed to participate. One patient was not interested in the follow-up assessment because he was highly satisfied with the result of the operation. One patient only locomoted with an electric wheelchair, had just suffered a COVID-19 infection and was medically incapacitated to participate at the follow-up examination. One patient had severe acute rheumatic disease and one patient could not be reached via phone, email, or postal service. Two patients were only able to participate at specific dates because of personal and professional obligations and hence were allowed to participate before reaching the 24-month follow-up time (11 and 21 months after surgery, respectively).