WORK OF FLEXION AFTER TENDON REPAIR WITH VARIOUS SUTURE METHODS - A HUMAN CADAVERIC STUDY

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.