Tensile strength of the pullout repair technique for the medial meniscus posterior root tear: a porcine study.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare the load-to-failure of different common suturing techniques with a new technique for the medial meniscus posterior root tear (MMPRT).

METHODS: Thirty porcine medial menisci were randomly assigned to three suturing techniques used for transtibial pullout repair of the MMPRT (n = 10 per group). Three different meniscal suture configurations were studied: the two simple suture (TSS) technique, the conventional modified Mason-Allen suture (MMA) technique, and the new MMA technique using the FasT-Fix combined with the Ultrabraid (F-MMA). The ultimate failure load was tested using a tensile testing machine.

RESULTS: The MMA and F-MMA groups demonstrated significantly higher failure loads than the TSS group (P = 0.0003 and P = 0.0005, respectively). No significant differences were observed between the MMA and F-MMA groups (P = 0.734).

CONCLUSIONS: The ultimate failure load was significantly greater in the F-MMA than the TSS group and similar to the conventional MMA technique.