The plantaris tendon as a tendo-osseous graft. Part II. Clinical studies.
To minimize adhesions following tendon repair, early post-operative movement is recommended. This has proved difficult with tendon grafting because of weakness of the repair sites, particularly distally, and because of slow revascularization. A potential solution is the use of a composite tendon-bone graft in which a bone block is attached to the end of the tendon. The tendon is threaded through a hole in the distal phalanx from the dorsal to the palmar side and impacted like a cork to create an immediate strong fixation. The tendon itself is then tunnelled through the pulley system and the proximal repair is carried out with a multiple weave technique which can withstand immediate active movement. The ideal tendon-bone complex is the plantaris attached to a segment of calcaneus. A preliminary report with two case studies is presented.
Morrison
W A
WA
Department of Surgery, St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
Schlicht
S M
SM
D000328:Adult; D016025:Bone Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D002111:Calcaneus / Q000637:transplantation*; D005385:Fingers / Q000601:surgery*; D006365:Heel; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013710:Tendons / Q000637:transplantation*