A BIOMECHANICAL COMPARISON OF TECHNIQUES OF FLEXOR TENDON REPAIR

Achieving satisfactory digital motion after suturing severed flexor te ndons remains a challenge. Although a suture technique proposed by Sav age is stronger in vitro than a true Kessler repair, the Savage techni que has not been previously tested in vivo. We repaired 96 severed can ine tendons using either of two modifications of the Kessler technique or the Savage technique. The tensile strength of these repairs were c ompared at 0, 1, 3, and 6 weeks after suturing. The Savage technique p rovided a significantly stronger repair than the ''suture locking'' me thod in vitro and at 1 and 3 weeks after repair. We found no significa nt differences between the tensile strengths of the Kessler-Tajima and suture-locking methods at any lime.