Soft Tissue Fixation Using A Looped Suture Construct

Abstract

A looped suture construct is formed by looping a suture on itself and slidably connecting the suture through an anchoring structure such that a looped end and a free end of the suture are on opposite sides of the slidable connection. The anchoring structure may be bone, a suture anchor, or another structure securely attached to bone. The looped end and the free end are passed through the soft tissue to be repaired. The free end is then passed through the looped end. Tension is applied to the free end to draw the soft tissue into contact with the desired bone, whereupon the free end is secured to maintain the tension. The looped suture end remains open and positioned on one side or surface of the soft tissue. Suture anchors of the invention are pre-loaded with at least one suture having a looped end and at least one free end.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 318,344, filed Mar. 28, 2010, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The invention relates to surgical fixation of soft tissue. More particularly, the invention relates to methods and apparatus for soft tissue repair using a looped suture construct.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Soft tissues, such as, for example, tendons, ligaments, muscles, and the like, are attached to bone throughout the human body. Various injuries and conditions may result in soft tissue separating or tearing away from bone. When this occurs, surgery is required to mechanically reattach the soft tissue to bone to allow the soft tissue to naturally reattach itself to the bone. Surgical repair of soft tissue typically involves passing one or more strands of suture through the soft tissue, applying tension to the suture strands to draw the soft tissue...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0005]Soft tissue fixation according to the invention includes the passing of at least one suture through the tissue to be repaired. The passed suture is either preferably already in the form of a loop, or a loop is formed after the suture is passed through the soft tissue. The looped suture remains open and positioned on one side or surface of the soft tissue such that it is able to grab a large surface portion of the tissue in the loop. This improves the suture's grip on the tissue and decreases the likelihood that the suture will pull through the tissue, thus increasing the likelihood of surgical success.

Problems solved by technology

Various injuries and conditions may result in soft tissue separating or tearing away from bone.

A major source of failure of such surgical repairs occurs at the tissue-suture interface and is known as “suture pull-through.” That is, one or more strands of suture may pull through the soft tissue.

When pull-through occurs, the repair fails because the soft tissue is either no longer attached to the bone or not in sufficient contact with the bone to promote healing.

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