Biomechanical assessment of a novel tendon junction

The Pulvertaft weave has been the standard tendon junction technique used both in tendon transfers and tendon grafts. A limitation of this repair is the sequential failure of stabilizing sutures, rather than the tendon. A novel loop weave is described and compared with the Pulvertaft weave in biomec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Journal of hand surgery, European volume Vol. 38; no. 7; p. 795
Main Authors Crook, T, Tawfik, J, Bertollo, N, Wheen, D J, Scougall, P J, Walsh, W R
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England 01.09.2013
Subjects
Animals
Biomechanical Phenomena
Sheep
Stress, Mechanical
Suture Techniques
Tendons - surgery
Tensile Strength
Pulvertaft weave
Tendon weave
mechanical testing
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Summary:The Pulvertaft weave has been the standard tendon junction technique used both in tendon transfers and tendon grafts. A limitation of this repair is the sequential failure of stabilizing sutures, rather than the tendon. A novel loop weave is described and compared with the Pulvertaft weave in biomechanical performance. Ovine deep flexor and extensor tendons were used to simulate Pulvertaft or loop weaves (n = 11) for tensile testing. The Pulvertaft weaves failed at the stabilizing sutures, whereas the loop weaves repairs failed by longitudinal splitting of the motor tendon. The loop weave demonstrated significantly higher mean initial failure and ultimate strengths. Tensile loads required to elongate the loop weave by 4, 6, and 8 mm were significantly higher, while more displacement was associated with the Pulvertaft repair under the application of 50, 75, and 100 N tensile loads. This study demonstrates favourable biomechanical characteristics of the new loop weave technique.
ISSN:2043-6289
DOI:10.1177/1753193412465233