KNOTLESS GRAFT FIXATION USING AN IMPLANT HAVING A POINTED TIP

• US 20130150885A1
• Filed: 02/12/2013
• Published: 06/13/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/22/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Arthrex Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Arthrex Incorporated
• Inventors: Dreyfuss, Peter J.
• Granted Patent: US 10,052,091 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 606/232
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/0401 Suture anchors, buttons or pledgets, i.e. means for attaching sutures to bone, cartilage or soft tissue; Instruments for applying or removing suture anchors A61B17/0642 takes precedence; fixation devices for tendons or ligaments A61F2/0811
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/864 hollow, e.g. with socket or cannulated
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/8645 Headless screws, e.g. ligament interference screws
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/8875 Screwdrivers, spanners or wrenches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00907 for light
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0403 Dowels
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0409 Instruments for applying suture anchors
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0414 having a suture-receiving opening, e.g. lateral opening
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/044 with a threaded shaft, e.g. screws
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0445 cannulated, e.g. with a longitudinal through-hole for passage of an instrument
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0448 Additional elements on or within the anchor
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/045 snug fit within the anchor
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/0805 Implements for inserting tendons or ligaments
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/0811 Fixation devices for tendons or ligaments
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/0835 with deformation of anchor parts, e.g. expansion of dowel by set screw
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/0852 Fixation of a loop or U-turn, e.g. eyelets, anchor having multiple holes
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/0858 Fixation of tendon or ligament between anchor and bone, e.g. interference screws, wedges
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/0888 Anchor in or on a blind hole or on the bone surface without formation of a tunnel

Abstract

A method for securing soft tissue to bone which does not require the surgeon to tie suture knots to secure the tissue to the bone. Suture is passed through the graft at desired points. A cannulated plug or screw is pre-loaded onto the distal end of a driver provided with an eyelet implant at its distal end. Suture attached to the graft is passed through the eyelet of the implant located at the distal end of the driver. The distal end of the driver together with the eyelet implant is inserted into the bone. Tension is applied to the suture to position the graft at the desired location relative to the bone. The screw or plug is advanced into the pilot hole by turning the interference screw or tapping the plug until the cannulated screw or plug securely engages and locks in the eyelet implant, so that the cannulated plug or screw with the engaged eyelet implant is flush with the bone. Once the screw or plug is fully inserted and the suture is impacted into the bone, the driver is removed and any loose ends of the sutures protruding from the anchor site are then clipped short.

Claims

1. A system for interference fixation of a suture in a hole in bone without requiring pre-drilling of a hole in the bone, comprising:

a driver including a shaft having a proximal end and a distal end;

a cannulated interference device preloaded on the driver and disposed coaxially with the shaft, the cannulated interference device having an inner diameter and an outer diameter; and

an implant releasably attached at the distal end of the driver, the implant having an aperture for receiving a suture such that the suture can slide freely through the aperture of the implant, the implant having a conical portion terminating in a pointed tip at its most distal end, the implant being releasably attached at the distal end of the driver and having a width smaller than the inner diameter of the cannulated interference device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the interference device is a screw.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the interference device is a plug.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the aperture of the implant has an eyelet configuration.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the implant is releasably attached to the driver by a connector portion that fits within a tubing integral to the distal end of the driver.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the driver includes an outer shaft disposed around an inner shaft and movable between a proximal position and a distal position along the inner shaft, and wherein the interference device is loaded onto the inner shaft by inserting the inner shaft through a cannula of the interference device with the outer shaft retracted to the proximal position so that the proximal end of the loaded interference device abuts the distal end of the outer shaft.