Knotless bidirectional barbed versus smooth polypropylene three-loop pulley sutures for repair of canine gastrocnemius tendon
type: CreativeWork
description: Canine common calcaneal (Achilles) tendon injury is a well-known cause of lameness in the dog. The Achilles tendon complex is primarily composed of the gastrocnemius tendon, with smaller contributions from the superficial digital flexor tendon and the common tendon of the biceps femoris, semitendinosus and gracilis muscles. The primary goal in tendon repair is to provide strength appropriate to allow healing while minimizing gap formation. A large gap (>3 mm) in repaired tendon results in slower healing and decreased ultimate tensile strength (UTS) at 6 weeks, compared to those with a smaller gap. Barbed sutures are a relatively recent entry into the veterinary field. These sutures have found multiple applications in human medicine, including digital flexor tendon repair, as well as gastrointestinal, gynecologic, urologic and cosmetic surgeries. Recent veterinary studies demonstrate that knotless barbed sutures have supraphysiologic, and in some cases, increased load to failure compared to conventional sutures in selected soft tissue surgeries. Each barb provides a small component of the total anchoring force which cumulatively can exceed the tensile strength of the smooth monofilament sutures. The barbs increase suture-tendon interface and theoretically distribute load more evenly throughout the construct, as well as minimize the chances of suture pull-out as a mode of failure. As these sutures are processed from existing materials and result in a smaller core diameter, it is recommended to select a barbed suture 1-2 sizes larger than the appropriate smooth suture, with the expectation of at least equal tensile strength. We hypothesized that a knotless barbed polypropylene repair would have increased strength compared to a smooth knotted polypropylene repair when placed in the clinically utilized three-loop pulley (3LP) suture pattern in an in-vitro model for gastrocnemius tendon repair. Common calcaneal tendons and calcaneii were obtained as paired units from pelv…
abstract: Canine common calcaneal (Achilles) tendon injury is a well-known cause of lameness in the dog. The Achilles tendon complex is primarily composed of the gastrocnemius tendon, with smaller contributions from the superficial digital flexor tendon and the common tendon of the biceps femoris, semitendinosus and gracilis muscles. The primary goal in tendon repair is to provide strength appropriate to allow healing while minimizing gap formation. A large gap (>3 mm) in repaired tendon results in slower healing and decreased ultimate tensile strength (UTS) at 6 weeks, compared to those with a smaller gap. Barbed sutures are a relatively recent entry into the veterinary field. These sutures have found multiple applications in human medicine, including digital flexor tendon repair, as well as gastrointestinal, gynecologic, urologic and cosmetic surgeries. Recent veterinary studies demonstrate that knotless barbed sutures have supraphysiologic, and in some cases, increased load to failure compared to conventional sutures in selected soft tissue surgeries. Each barb provides a small component of the total anchoring force which cumulatively can exceed the tensile strength of the smooth monofilament sutures. The barbs increase suture-tendon interface and theoretically distribute load more evenly throughout the construct, as well as minimize the chances of suture pull-out as a mode of failure. As these sutures are processed from existing materials and result in a smaller core diameter, it is recommended to select a barbed suture 1-2 sizes larger than the appropriate smooth suture, with the expectation of at least equal tensile strength. We hypothesized that a knotless barbed polypropylene repair would have increased strength compared to a smooth knotted polypropylene repair when placed in the clinically utilized three-loop pulley (3LP) suture pattern in an in-vitro model for gastrocnemius tendon repair. Common calcaneal tendons and calcaneii were obtained as paired units from pelv…
author: Perry, Benjamin S
language: en
keywords: canine, barbed suture, polypropylene, gastrocnemius, tendon, knotless
date published: 2015-09-29T20:49:24Z
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:26:31Z
provider: University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/88133