Functional outcome
At 1-year post-surgery, functional outcomes of all patients were evaluated by using the heel-rise test (HRT), a validated method which has been used previously (The HRT was performed on one leg at time with patient standing on a box with 10° incline wearing standardized footwear connected to a linear encounter, with the test sequence being 30 per minute using a metronome. Patients were told to perform as high, and as many heel-rises as possible. The test was stopped when the patient could no longer perform a complete heel-rise or maintain the sequence of 30/min. All results, including the number of heel-rises, height of every single heel-rise, total work in joules (total distance × body weight), time and the power (work/time) were recorded for further data analysis. The Limb Symmetry Index (LSI) was calculated to show the ratio between injured and contralateral healthy leg and is presented as a percentage (injured/contralateral healthy X 100).