Seth L. Sherman, MD, assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of Missouri School of Medicine in Columbia, and Ferris Pfeiffer, PhD, assistant professor in the University of Missouri College of Engineering and School of Medicine, led the study. Dr. Sherman conducted tendon-repair surgeries using both transosseous tunnel repair and suture anchors on human cadaveric specimens. After the surgeries, Drs. Sherman and Pfeiffer simulated rehabilitation to test the strength of the repaired tendons.
Here are four points:
1. Dr. Sherman and Dr. Pfeiffer found the tendons repaired with the less-invasive suture anchor technique had significantly less gapping, a sign of a weak tendon repair in which a gap between the tendon and the bone occurs, after the stress tests.
2. The researchers also found no difference in the amount of pressure the tendon could withstand during either technique.
3. Despite the advantages, Dr. Sherman said the cost of suture anchors could be a negative, citing a 2012 study published in the journal Orthopedics that found the cost of using suture anchors ranged from $435 to $560 per patient, approximately $190 to $320 more than the transosseous technique.
4. Dr. Sherman has started using the suture anchor technique in living human patients and plans to compare the healing time of the two techniques in future research.
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