Double tendon transfer for correction of drop-foot.

Many conditions can cause foot drop, which makes walking difficult because the foot easily bumps into obstacles, or the knee must be kept more flexed than usual during the swing phase of gait, especially when going up stairs. Several techniques that have been described to correct foot drop rely on bone procedures or tendon transfer, with or without bone fixation.

In this article, we describe a simple technique that is heavily used in leprosy-endemic countries and provides long-lasting results. It requires a double tendon transfer through the interosseous membrane of leg; the tibialis posterior and flexor digitorum longus are sutured to the tibialis anterior, and extensor hallucis longus and extensor digitorum longus, respectively, proximally to the extensor retinaculum.