Surgical Instrument and Method for Attaching Soft Tissue to a Bone

A surgical instrument for attaching soft tissue to a bone at a surgical site, comprising:

• an elongated shaft having a proximal end to be grasped by a user of the surgical instrument, and a distal end to be introduced into the surgical site;
• a socket carried at said distal end of the elongated shaft and dimensioned for removably receiving an anchor to be secured to the bone at the surgical site, which anchor has a suture secured thereto;
• a clamping device including a pair of clamping jaws carried by said distal end of the elongated shaft and movable to open and closed positions with respect to each other;
• a piercing device including a crochet head carried by said elongated shaft and movable in the distal and proximal directions with respect thereto;
• said crochet head having a pointed tip for piercing a hole through soft tissue clamped between said jaws when in said closed position and when said crochet head is moved in the distal direction, and a hook formation for catching the suture and for drawing it through the pierced hole when said crochet head is moved in the proximal direction;
• and manipulatable members carried by said proximal end of the elongated shaft for moving said jaws to their open and closed positions, and for moving said crochet head in said distal and proximal directions.

A method of surgically attaching soft tissue to a bone at a surgical site, comprising:

• drilling a bore in said bone;
• inserting into said surgical site a surgical instrument carrying at its distal end an anchor secured to an intermediate portion of a suture, a tissue-clamping device including a pair of clamping jaws, and a crochet head having a pointed tip;
• implanting said anchor in said bore of the bone;
• manipulating said clamping device to clamp a selected portion of said tissue between said clamping jaws;
• manipulating said crochet head to pierce said selected portion of the clamped tissue, and to draw one end of the suture therethrough;
• removing the surgical instrument from the surgical site;
• knotting the two sends of the suture;
• and sliding the knot to the bone to tighten the tissue to the bone.