title: Flexor tendon repair: a comparative study between a knotless barbed suture repair and a traditional four-strand monofilament suture repair.
abstract: We compared the tensile strength of a novel knotless barbed suture method with a traditional four-strand Adelaide technique for flexor tendon repairs. Forty fresh porcine flexor tendons were transected and randomly assigned to one of the repair groups before repair. Biomechanical testing demonstrated that the tensile strengths between both tendon groups were very similar. However, less force was required to create a 2 mm gap in the four-strand repair method compared with the knotless barbed technique. There was a significant reduction in the cross-sectional area in the barbed suture group after repair compared with the Adelaide group. This would create better gliding within the pulley system in vivo and could decrease gapping and tendon rupture.
authors.affiliation: 1Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, St. Vincent's University Hospital, Elm Park, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Joyce
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Whately
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Carroll
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D008422:Materials Testing; D011897:Random Allocation; D013536:Suture Techniques; D013537:Sutures; D013552:Swine; D013708:Tendon Injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D013710:Tendons / Q000601:surgery*; D013718:Tensile Strength
keywords: Adelaide repair; Flexor tendon repair; barbed suture; four-strand repair