Abstract
Biomechanical studies are commonly used to validate new or modified rotator cuff repair
techniques. Additional knots, more tendon suture passes, and obligatory suture management
requirements are often the “cost” for improved biomechanical results. This cost can
amount to increased technical difficulty and surgical times. However, technical ease
or difficulty as a measurable variable has not been quantified. A basic measure for
technical ease would allow surgeons the ability to objectively assess and compare
rotator cuff repair practicality and potentially help in the design of future studies
to standardize repair techniques alongside biomechanical measures. A proposed rotator
cuff repair “technical efficiency ratio” is defined as follows: (No. of knots + No.
of tendon suture passes + No. of suture limbs)/No. of pilot holes created. This can
give a measure of “work” or utility achieved per fixation point created for a particular
type of repair (e.g., single or double row), with a smaller number representing relatively
more efficiency per anchor or fixation point used. If repairs validated in the laboratory
are too cumbersome to perform in vivo from a practical standpoint, technical ease
should be a prerequisite measure, and the success of a repair technique should not
necessarily be based on biomechanics alone.
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 28, 2013
Accepted:
March 27,
2013
Received:
February 10,
2013
Footnotes
The author reports that he has no conflicts of interest in the authorship and publication of this article.
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 Arthroscopy Association of North America. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
