Comparative and Experimental Study on Different Tendinous Grasping Techniques in Rotator Cuff Repair: a New Reinforced Stich is Proposed

Arthroscopic repair of wide rotator cuff ruptu- res is burdened by a percentage of recurrences that is greater than the repair carried out when an open technique is used. One of the main reasons for this difference can be searched for in the minor hold of stitching on the tendinous aspect obtained with arthroscopic repair. In fact, when an open technique is used, good hold can be guaranteed by using reinforced stitches such as the modified Mason-Allen. Thus, arthroscopic repair technique on the ten- dinous aspect, particularly in wide and massive injuries, must be improved. It was the purpose of this study to compare a new reinforced stitch that can easily be obtai- ned in arthroscopy (simple stitch that orthogo- nally crosses a horizontal stitch previously knot- ted on the tendon: SS-HL), with traditional stit- ches (simple stitch, mattress-stitch and modified Mason-Allen stitch). Tests were carried out on sheep infraspinatus tendons in order to evalua- te the resistance of pull-out. The SS-HL stitch showed resistance to loading that was similar to that when the modified Mason-Allen was used, but it was greater than that shown by the simple stitch (+48%) and the mattress stitch (+35%). Key words: suturing techniques; rotator cuffs; arthroscopy.