Augmentation suture 法による腱板修復の術後半年での臨床評価

抄録

Background: The double-row suture technique and the suture-bridge technique have been used for rotator cuff repair to decrease the re-rupture. However, as far as suturing only the degenerated tendon end itself for the repair goes, the risk of re-rupture remains. The augmentation suture technique is a new procedure, connecting the intact medial tendon to the lateral greater tuberosity, which might protect the initial repaired site. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the postoperative results of the augmentation suture technique.
Methods: The thirteen patients with medium to large rotator cuff tears had cuff repair with the augmentation suture technique. At six months after the operation, the clinical outcome and the cuff integrity were evaluated.
Results: At six months after the operation, the clinical outcome scores were improved significantly (63.2 to 94.6 points; the Japanese Orthopaedic Association score, p<0.01 Paired t-test). In twelve cases (92%), the repaired cuff had good integrity on magnetic resonance images (Type-I and II of the Sugaya's classification). Re-rupture (Type-IV) was detected in one case (8%).
Discussion: The augmentation suture, connecting the medial intact tendon to the lateral greater tuberosity, will protect the initial cuff repair, and might be useful for the repair of a rotator cuff tear with a degenerated cuff end.