The porcine forelimb as a model for human flexor tendon surgery

Technical skills have been shown to transfer very well from bench models to practical use. The central two rays of 30 forelimbs of pigs were dissected and anatomical observations were made. The rays contained deep and superficial flexor tendons enclosed in a fibro-osseous tunnel and these were present in all 60 specimens. The fibrous part of the tunnel had specific constant condensations in annular and oblique directions which were present in all 60 rays. The anatomy of the porcine forelimb digital flexor tendon system is sufficiently similar to the human system to be used as a model for surgeons wishing to master the technical aspects of zone II flexor tendon repair. This paper proposes the porcine forelimb as a bench model for zone II flexor tendon repair.