ACHILLES TENDON CUT due to TOILET BOWL INJURY

The patient slipped in the bathroom and his foot crashed into the toilet bowl. (no he was not squatting on the edge of the toilet seat - see bottom pic)

He sustained a deep laceration over his calf and a clinical examination showed that the achilles tendon was torn.
This was confirmed intra-operatively, where an emergency debridement, exploration and tendon repair was done the same day.

Intra-op findings

Wound blurred out as deemed too gory for public viewing :

Post operatively, a backslab with the ankle in equinus was applied so as to relieve the tension on the operated tendon. This will be replaced later with a special walking boot allowing range of motion exercises to the ankle, with partial weight bearing of the affected limb. Total rehabilitation would take about 4-6 weeks

Apparently a group of doctors reported on this seemingly "rare" case and got it published in the foot and ankle journal.

On another related note, have you been to the toilets in the malls? you would probably come across this sign:

The bottom right symbol is an apt reminder of what not to do if one wishes to avoid getting the injury that our friend above had... perhaps the mall management might want to use the picture above to illustrate the consequences of slipping into a toilet bowl.. hmm...

- the Bomoh Tulang -

reference:

the AAOS Clinical Practice Guideline on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Acute Achilles Tendon Rupture 2009