Baseline demographics
| Non-surgical (N=14) | Surgical (N=33) | P value | |
| Females* | 11 (78) | 17 (51) | 0.11 |
| Age, years† | 53 (±8) | 50 (±9) | 0.21 |
| ASA* | |||
| 1 | 9 (64) | 26 (79) | 0.24 |
| 2 | 4 (29) | 7 (215) | |
| MR findings at diagnosis‡ | |||
| All tendons retracted ≥2 cm | 7 (50%) | 28 (85%) | 0.025 |
| All tendons retracted <2 cm | 2 (14%) | 1 (3%) | |
| Two tendons retracted | 3 (21%) | 4 (12%) | |
| One tendon retracted | 2 (14%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Days from injury to start of treatment (surgical treatment or start of physiotherapy)† | 20 (±10) | 18 (±17) | 0.81 |
| Activity at injury | |||
| Slip | 5 (36%) | 11 (33%) | |
| Sporting injury | 9 (64%) | 19 (57%) | |
| Other | 0 (0%) | 3 (10%) |
*n (%).
†Mean (SD).
‡To stratify the MRI findings at diagnosis, we divided the patients into the following groups: all three tendons retracted ≥2 cm. All three tendons retracted <2 cm. Two tendons retracted ≥2 cm. One tendon retracted ≥2 cm. We chose to have a cut off at ≥2 cm as many other studies describe this avulsion distance, as the cut-off when surgery is needed.12