Suture anchor and methods of knotless tissue fixation
AssigneeArthrex, Inc.
InventorsThomas Dooney, JR., Alan M. Hirahara
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods for soft tissue to bone repairs, without knot tying. The soft tissue repair systems include self-cinching constructs with splices and loops having attached flexible materials that are pre-loaded onto modified knotless anchors (for example, swivel and/or screw-in suture anchors and/or push-in suture anchors with a distal eyelet) to position the self-locking, adjustable construct at the repair site. The systems allow for knotless tensioning of the tissue after the knotless anchors have been implanted.
Claims20
A surgical system for tissue repairs, comprising:
- a fixation device comprising a body, a longitudinal axis, a proximal end and a distal end;
- and
- a tensionable construct pre-loaded on the fixation device, the tensionable construct comprising a flexible strand with a knotless closed loop, a splice formed within the flexible strand, and a flexible material attached to the knotless closed loop.
A surgical construct for tissue repairs, comprising:
- a fixation device comprising a body, a longitudinal axis, a proximal end with a drive socket and a distal end;
- and
- a tensionable construct pre-loaded on the fixation device, the tensionable construct consisting of a flexible strand having a free end and a knot, a splice, an adjustable loop with an adjustable perimeter, and a bunching material slidingly attached to the adjustable loop,
- wherein the fixation device is installed within a first tissue and the bunching material is secured on a second tissue which is different from the first tissue.
A method of tissue repair, comprising the steps of:
- providing a surgical device comprising a fixation device and a flexible construct extending through the fixation device, the flexible construct comprising a flexible strand with a splice formed within the flexible strand, an adjustable loop having an adjustable perimeter, a free end, a fixed end, and a flexible material attached to the adjustable loop;
- installing the fixation device into a first tissue;
- securing the flexible material to a second tissue;
- and
- subsequently, reducing a distance between the first and second tissues.
A method of attaching tissue to bone using an anchor assembly including a driver and an anchor, the anchor comprising:
- an anchor body having a distal end, a proximal end, a longitudinal axis, and a surgical construct pre-loaded within the anchor body, the surgical construct consisting of a suture with a flexible material slidingly attached to the suture and also with a suture passing instrument attached to the suture;
- the method comprising the steps of:
- providing an anchor pre-loaded with a suture having an attached flexible material by extending the suture within a cannulation of the anchor, the suture being secured by a knot at a most distal end of the anchor;
- pulling the suture passing instrument to allow the suture to pass through itself, within the anchor body, and to form a splice and an adjustable suture loop, the flexible material being attached to the adjustable suture loop;
- removing the suture passing instrument and inserting the anchor pre-loaded with suture into bone with the driver;
- installing the anchor into bone;
- removing the driver;
- securing the flexible material to a second tissue to be fixated;
- and
- pulling on a free end of the suture to bunch up the flexible material and approximate the second tissue to the first tissue.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.