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Flexor Tendon Repair in Zone 2 Using A Six-Strand Figure of Eight SutureFrom the Department of Surgery, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Correspondence: M. M. Al-Qattan, Professor of Surgery, King Saud University, Department of Surgery, PO Box 18097, Riyadh, 11415, Saudi Arabia. Tel.: +966 505274885; fax: +966 14679493. E-mail:moqattan{at}hotmail.com. The tensile strength of three different flexor tendon repair techniques were tested in vitro: the modified Kessler technique (a two-strand repair), two figure of eight sutures (a four-strand repair) and three figure of eight sutures (a six-strand repair). The mean breaking forces for the three techniques were 48.0 N, 73.1 N and 93.3 N, respectively, and the differences were highly significant (p < 0.0001). In a prospective clinical study, a total of 45 patients (50 fingers) with clean-cut complete lacerations of both flexor tendons in zone 2 were included. The protocol used the three figure of eight suture techniques for (profundus only) tendon repair, venting of the pulleys, and post-operative immediate active range of motion that ensured full active extension of the proximal interphalangeal joint. One repair (2%) ruptured. In the remaining 49 repairs, the result was considered excellent in 39 (78%) and good in 10 (20%) using the Strickland and Glogovac grading system.
Key Words: flexor tendon repair six-strand repair figure of eight sutures
This version was published on June
1, 2009 Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Vol. 34, No. 3,
322-328 (2009) |
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