Bone-dowel assembly for anchoring a suture

Abstract

A bone dowel assembly for attaching a tissue to a bone includes an approximately cylindrical shank having a continuous borehole which extends axially from a free end of the shank to a second end of the shank, and two slots in the outside surface of the shank which communicate with the borehole and extend from the second end of the shank partially along its length to form reeds or tines which expand radially outwardly when an expansion part is forced into the borehole. The expansion part is conical and includes at least one aperture which extends through the expansion part transversely to the longitudinal axis of the shank. Before insertion into a hole drilled in the bone, the assembly is threaded from the free end of the shank through the borehole, out through one of the slots, past an outside portion of the expansion part, through the aperture, again past an outside portion of the expansion part, through the other slot, and back through the borehole to the free end of the shank. The assembly is then inserted, expansion part first, into the hole in the bone and the suture is pulled, while holding the assembly in place, to force the expansion part into the borehole, causing the reeds to expand radially outwardly and wedge against the sides of the hole in which the assembly is placed. The expansion part and shank may be integrally molded and the connecting zone scored or perforated such that the connection or link between the expansion part and shank is broken when force is applied to pull the expansion part into the borehole.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.