A new rigid biodegradable anchor for meniscus refixation: biomechanical evaluation

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic surgery
• Biomedical engineering
• Sports medicine

Background:

• Conventional meniscus repair sutures can cause tissue damage and prolong operating times.
• All-inside repair devices aim to mitigate these disadvantages.
• The Contour Meniscus Arrow is an advanced biodegradable implant for meniscus repair.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the biomechanical properties of the Contour Meniscus Arrow with its predecessor, the Meniscus Arrow.
• To evaluate the Contour Meniscus Arrow against traditional vertical and horizontal meniscus suture techniques.
• To assess fixation strength, stiffness, and failure modes of different meniscus refixation methods.

Main Methods:

• Utilized fresh frozen bovine menisci for testing.
• Employed a computer-based material-testing machine at a rate of 12.5 mm/s.
• Evaluated four refixation techniques: Meniscus Arrow, Contour Meniscus Arrow, vertical sutures, and horizontal sutures.

Main Results:

• Vertical sutures exhibited the highest initial fixation strength, followed by horizontal sutures and the Contour Arrow.
• The original Meniscus Arrow demonstrated inferior pull-out strength.
• Cyclic testing reduced fixation strength across all tested groups.
• The Contour Arrow showed superior pull-out strength and comparable stiffness to the original Meniscus Arrow.

Conclusions:

• The Contour Meniscus Arrow demonstrates improved or comparable biomechanical performance to previous all-inside devices.
• Its pull-out strength is similar to reported values for horizontal meniscus sutures.
• The biomechanical profile of the Contour Meniscus Arrow supports its consideration for clinical application in meniscus repair.