Pull-out strength of five suture anchors.
Five commercially available suture anchor devices were tested to failure in human cadaveric proximal tibiae. A total of 198 trials were completed. Insertion was uncomplicated for all anchors, with the exception of the Acufex Rod TAG device, with five of 22 (23%) of these breaking upon insertion into thicker cortical bone. Overall, the anchors performed significantly (p < 0.05) better when placed in thicker cortical bone, further away from the joint surface, and when loaded in a direction parallel to the bone surface. The Mitek GII anchor failed (pulled out of bone) less often than the other anchors (19% vs. 46%). In loading perpendicular to the bone surface, the Mitek GII and Statak were the strongest (p < 0.05), with mean loads at failure of 82.5 and 90.2 N, respectively. The Acufex Rod TAG, Acufex Wedge TAG, and Mitek GI failed at 67.2, 65.5, and 49.4 N respectively.
Carpenter
J E
JE
Orthopaedic Research Laboratories, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Fish
D N
DN
Huston
L J
LJ
Goldstein
S A
SA
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D004867:Equipment Design; D004868:Equipment Failure; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D013536:Suture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D013977:Tibia / Q000601:surgery