• Walking boot Vs Plaster cast
    Walking boot Vs Plaster cast
  • Achilles Tendon Tear
    Achilles Tendon Tear
  • Achilles tendon rupture seen at sonography: discontinuity over several centimeters (red line)
    Achilles tendon rupture seen at sonography: discontinuity over several centimeters (red line)
  • Left Achilles tendon rupture
    Left Achilles tendon rupture
  • Clinical Trials NHS
    Clinical Trials NHS

***UKSTAR is now closed to recruitment***

Welcome to the UKSTAR Trial. The UK Study of tendo Achilles Rehabilitation is a multicentre randomised clinical trial sponsored by the University of Oxford.

Results have been published in The Lancet (Costa et al, 2020).

The trial comparied the plaster cast versus walking boot treatment for non-operatively managed Achilles tendon ruptures and was funded by Health Technology Assessment Programme, National Institute of Health Research.

In summary, the results showed:

  • no difference in Achilles Tendon Rupture Score (ATRS) at 9 months post injury.
  • no difference in the rate of re-rupture of the tendon.
  • mean total health and personal social care cost was £1181 for the plaster cast group and £1078 for the functional brace (boot) group.

Please see the Lancet publication for more information.

As a patient you can find more information relating to your treatment under "About UKSTAR", download our Patient Information Sheet and contact the UKSTAR Trial Team if you have any questions. If you are an investigator or involved in the trial's research team you can navigate ‘For the Research Team’ pages for further information relating to the UKSTAR trial.

KEY PEOPLE

Prof Matthew Costa 
(Chief Investigator)

Dr Susan Wagland
(Trial Manager)

Recruitment Progress:
550
542
550
542
Latest participant recruited from: Alexandra Hospital, Redditch
Date of most recent recruitment: Thursday, 31st May 2018