Failure strengths of suture vs. biodegradable arrow and staple for meniscal repair: an in vitro study

A study was performed to determine the in vitro biomechanical behaviour of two 'all inside' meniscal repair techniques (Meniscal Arrow [Bionx Implants Inc.] and Meniscal Staple [Surgical Dynamics Inc.]) and compare these directly with both a horizontal and vertical suture repair. Using 30 fresh bovine medial menisci, vertical 'bucket handle' tears were created 4 mm from the meniscus periphery. Repairs were subsequently performed, using four techniques, with 15 repairs in each group, a horizontally placed 3-metric Ethibond suture, a vertically placed 3-metric Ethibond suture, a single 13-mm arrow and a single 7-mm staple. A tensile test was performed to determine the force at failure for each technique. The mean force at failure of the horizontal and vertical suture groups was 63.2 and 73.9 N, respectively, 44.3 N for the arrow group and 17.8 N for the staple group. The mean forces at failure were significantly different (P < 0.005). The mean tensile strength of the meniscal staple was significantly lower than that of both suture and arrow groups. The 7-mm staple design may not allow adequate interdigitation between the barbed legs and the semicircular collagen fibres of the meniscus.