• Steve K Lee, Ashok Dubey, Byung H Kim, Alissa Zingman, Josh Landa, and Nader Paksima.
• Division of Hand Surgery, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases Orthopaedic Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10003, USA. steve.lee@nyumc.org
• J Hand Surg Am. 2010 Jan 1; 35 (1): 19-23.

PurposeExtensor tendon injuries are common; however, relatively few studies have evaluated extensor tendon repair methods. The purpose of this study was to investigate the properties of the running-interlocking horizontal mattress repair method with regard to tendon shortening, stiffness, strength, and time needed to perform the repair, compared with the modified Bunnell method and the augmented Becker method.MethodsTwenty-four extensor tendons from 8 fresh-frozen cadaveric hands were harvested from zone 6. The harvested tendons were randomly assigned into 1 of 3 repair groups: augmented Becker, modified Bunnell, and running-interlocking horizontal mattress repair methods. The running-interlocking horizontal mattress repair combines a running suture with an interlocking horizontal mattress suture. Each repaired tendon was measured for length before and after repair and tested for stiffness, ultimate load to failure, and time required to perform the repair.ResultsThe running-interlocking horizontal mattress repair was significantly stiffer (8,506 N/m) than the augmented Becker (5,971 N/m) and the modified Bunnell (6,719 N/m) repairs. The running-interlocking horizontal mattress repair resulted in significantly less shortening (1.7 mm) than the augmented Becker (6.2 mm) and modified Bunnell (6.3 mm) repairs. The running-interlocking horizontal mattress repair took significantly less time to perform without a significant difference in the ultimate load to failure (running-interlocking horizontal mattress repair, 51 N; augmented Becker, 53 N; modified Bunnell, 48 N).ConclusionsThe running-interlocking horizontal mattress repair is significantly stiffer and faster to perform than either the augmented Becker or the modified Bunnell repairs, and it results in less shortening than either of these methods. The running-interlocking horizontal mattress repair should be strong enough to withstand some early motion.Copyright 2010 American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

10 keywords...

hide…