AB196. SOH21AS249. Return to play during COVID19: was Achilles a “Weekend Warrior”?

Background: The COVID19 pandemic has affected the types of trauma being operated on by Orthopaedic surgeons. Lifting of restrictions pertaining to sports saw a sudden return to play for many people after a period of inactivity. Achilles tendon ruptures are associated with these episodic athletes. In our institution, we appeared to have a large number of these injuries within a short space of time. We hypothesised that Phase 3 of “Lockdown”, where all sports were allowed to return, led to increased Achilles tendon rupture rates vs. the same period in 2019 due to a prolonged period of inactivity.