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Title: Biomechanical Properties of Various Surgical Suture Needles in a Cadaveric Quadriceps Tendon Model
INTRODUCTION: Quadriceps tendon autografts have experienced a rapid rise in popularity for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction due to advantages in graft sizing and potential improvement in biomechanics. While there is a growing body of literature on use of quadriceps tendon grafts, deeper investigation into the biomechanical properties of stitch techniques in this construct has been limited. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of a novel suture needle against different conventional suture needles by comparing the biomechanical properties of two commonly used stitch methods, a whip stitch, and a locking stitch in quadriceps tendon. It was hypothesized that the new device would be capable of creating both whip stitches and locking stitches that are biomechanically equivalent to similar stitch techniques performed with conventional needle products. METHODS: This was a controlled biomechanical study. A total of 24 matched pair cadaveric knees were dissected and a total of 48 quadriceps tendons were harvested and tested. All tendon grafts were standardized to the same size. Samples were then randomized into the following groups, keeping the matched pairs together: (Group 1, n=16) consisted of Company W’s novel two-part suture needle design, (Group 2, n=16) consisted of Company A suture, and (Group more » 3, n=16) consisted of Company B suture. For each group, the matched pairs were categorized into subgroups to be instrumented with either a whip stitch or a locking stitch. Two fellowship-trained surgeons performed all stitching, where they each instrumented 8 tendon grafts per group. For instrumentation, the grafts were clamped to a preparation stand in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations for passing each suture needle. A skin marker was used to identify and mark five evenly spaced points, 0.5 cm apart, as a guide to create a 5-stitch series. For Group 1, the whip stitch as well as the locking whip stitch were performed with a novel 2-part needle. For Group 2, the whip stitch was performed with loop suture needle and the locking stitch was krackow with a curved needle. Similarly, for Group 3, the whip stitch was performed with loop suture needle and the locking stitch was krackow with a curved needle (Figure 1). Cyclical testing was performed using a servohydraulic testing machine (MTS Bionix) equipped with a 5kN load cell. A standardized length of tendon, 7 cm, was coupled to the MTS actuator by passing it through a cryoclamp cooled by dry ice to a temperature of -5°C (Figure 2). All testing samples were then pre-conditioned to normalize viscoelastic effects and testing variability through application of cyclical loading to 25-100 N for three cycles. The samples were then held at 89 N for 15 minutes. Thereafter, the samples were loaded to 50-200 N for 500 cycles at 1 Hz. If samples survived, they were ramped to failure at 20 mm/min. Displacement and force data was collected throughout testing. Metrics of interest were total elongation (mm), stiffness (N/mm), ultimate failure load (N) and failure mode. Data are presented as averages plus/minus standard deviation. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with a Tukey pairwise comparison post hoc analysis was used to evaluate differences between the various stitching methods. Statistical significance was set at P = .05. RESULTS SECTION: For the whip stitch methods, the total elongation was found to be equivalent across all methods (W: 36 ± 10 mm; A: 32 ± 18 mm; B: 33 ± 8 mm). The stiffness of Company A (103 ± 11 N/mm) method was significantly larger than Company W (64 ± 8 N/mm; p=.001), whereas stiffness of whip stitch by Company W was equivalent to Company B (80 ± 32 N/mm). The ultimate failure load was equivalent across all whip stitch methods (W: 379 ± 31 mm; A: 412 ± 103 mm; B: 438 ± 63 mm). For the locking stitch method, the total elongation (W: 26 ± 10 mm; A: 14 ± 2 mm; B: 29 ± 5 mm), stiffness (W: 75 ± 11 N/mm; A: 104 ± 23 N/mm; B: 79 ± 10 N/mm) and ultimate load (W: 343 ± 22 N; A: 369 ± 30 N; B: 438 ± 63 N) were found to be equivalent across all methods. The failure mode for all groups is in Table 1. The common mode of failure across study groups and stitch configuration was suture breakage. However, the whip stitch from Company A and Company B had varied failure modes. DISCUSSION: Products from the three manufacturers were found to produce biomechanically equivalent whip stitches and locking stitches with respect to elongation and ultimate failure load. The only significant difference observed was that the whip stitch created with Company A’s product had a higher stiffness than Company W’s product, which could have been due to differences in the suture material. In this cadaveric quadriceps tendon model, it was shown that when using Company W’s novel two-part suture needle, users were capable of creating whip stitches and locking stitches that achieved equivalent biomechanical performance compared to similar stitch techniques performed with conventional needle products. A failure mode limited solely to suture breakage for methods completed with Company W’s needle product suggest a reliable suture construct with limited tissue damage. SIGNIFICANCE/CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Having a suture needle device with the versatility to easily perform different stitching constructs may provide surgeons an advantage needed to improve clinical outcomes. The data presented illustrates a strong new suture technique that has equivalent performance when compared to conventional needle devices and has promising applications in graft preparation for ligament and tendon reconstruction. « less
Authors:
; ; ; ;
Award ID(s):
2112103
Publication Date:
NSF-PAR ID:
10398743
Journal Name:
Transactions of the annual meeting of the Orthopaedic Research Society
ISSN:
0149-6433
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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