Healing of rotator cuff (RC) injuries with current suture or augmented scaffold techniques fails to regenerate the enthesis and instead forms a weaker fibrovascular scar that is prone to subsequent failure. Regeneration of the enthesis is the key to improving clinical outcomes for RC injuries. We hypothesized that the utilization of our tissue-engineered tendon to repair either an acute or a ch...

BACKGROUND There is a strong need for methods to improve the biological potential of rotator cuff tendon healing. Platelet-rich fibrin matrix (PRFM) allows delivery of autologous cytokines to healing tissue, and limited evidence suggests a positive effect of platelet-rich plasma on tendon biology. PURPOSE To evaluate the effect of platelet-rich fibrin matrix on rotator cuff tendon healing. ...

We hypothesized that the transplantation of Scx-transduced tendon-derived stem cells (TDSCs) promoted better tendon repair compared to the transplantation of mock-transduced cells. This study thus aimed to investigate the effect of Scx transduction on the expression of lineage markers in TDSCs and the effect of the resulting cell line in the promotion of tendon repair. Rat non-GFP or GFP-TDSCs ...

Successful rotator cuff repair requires biological anchoring of the repaired tendon to the bone. However, the histological structure of the repaired tendon-bone interface differs from that of a normal tendon insertion. We analysed differences between the normal tendon insertion and the repaired tendon-bone interface after surgery in the mechanical properties, histomorphometric analysis, and 3-d...

This study was undertaken to elucidate the mechanism of biological repair at the tendon-bone junction in a rat model. The stump of the toe flexor tendon was sutured to a drilled hole in the tibia (tendon suture group, n = 23) to investigate healing of the tendon-bone junction both radiologically and histologically. Radiological and histological findings were compared with those observed in a sh...

BACKGROUND Wide-awake flexor tendon repair in tourniquet-free unsedated patients permits intraoperative Total Active Movement examination (iTAMe) of the freshly repaired flexor tendon. This technique has permitted the intraoperative observation of tendon repair gapping induced by active movement when the core suture is tied too loosely. The gap can be repaired intraoperatively to decrease posto...

Rotator cuff injuries are common in both young and elderly patients. Despite improvements in instrumentation and surgical techniques, the failure rates following tendon reconstruction remain unacceptably high. To improve outcomes, graft patches have been developed to provide mechanical strength and to furnish a scaffold for biologic growth across the delicate tendon-bone junction. Although no p...

PURPOSE To report 22 patients who underwent repair of compound Achilles tendon ruptures with peroneus brevis tendon augmentation. METHODS Records of 6 women and 19 men aged 21 to 42 (mean, 28) years who underwent repair of compound Achilles tendon ruptures with peroneus brevis tendon augmentation were reviewed. All the wounds were transverse/oblique, minimally contaminated, and could be close...

INTRODUCTION: Flexor tendon injuries remain a contentious issue in hand surgery as reflected in the multitude of differing techniques. A significant proportion of tendon transections are oblique and they are typically managed in a similar fashion to straight transections, using a multi-strand technique. In our practice, we have observed that there is significant bunching at the repair sites whe...

BACKGROUND Suture pretension during tendon repair is supposed to increase the resistance to gap formation. However, its effects on the Bunnell suture technique are unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine the biomechanical effects of suture pretension on the Bunnell and cross-lock Bunnell techniques for tendon repair. METHODS Eighty porcine hindlimb tendons were randomly assigned t...