M. Aoki et al., WORK OF FLEXION AFTER TENDON REPAIR WITH VARIOUS SUTURE METHODS - A HUMAN CADAVERIC STUDY, Journal of hand surgery. British volume, 20B(3), 1995, pp. 310-313
After flexor tendon repair there is often increased resistance to tend
on gliding at the repair site, which is greater for techniques using i
ncreased suture strands or suture material. This increased ''friction'
' may be measured as the ''work of flexion'' in the laboratory setting
. Tendon repairs performed in zone 2 in human cadaver hands using the
two strand Kessler, the lateral Becker, the six strand Savage, interna
l and dorsal tendon splint, or the external mesh sleeve techniques, ha
d ''work of flexion'' measurements made both before and after the lace
ration and repair. The average increase in work of flexion was 4.8% fo
r Kessler; 6.5% for Becker; 10.9% for Savage; 19.3% for the internal t
endon splint, 16.2% for the dorsal tendon splint and 44.3% for the ext
ernal mesh sleeve. The work of flexion was found to increase in direct
proportion to the amount of suture material at the repair site.