Bioabsorbable tissue tack with oval-shaped head and method of tissue fixation using the same

• US 7,211,088 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2003
• Issued: 05/01/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Arthrex Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Arthrex Incorporated
• Inventors: Grafton, R. Donald, Chao, David J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dawson; Glenn K.
• Application Number:
  US10/673,235
• Publication Number:
  US 20040098045A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,309 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 606/77
• 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 17/0642 for bones, e.g. for osteosynthesis or connecting tendon to bone
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00004 (bio)absorbable, (bio)resorbable, resorptive for implantable prostheses A61F2210/0004
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0409 Instruments for applying suture anchors for applying suture clamps, clips or locks A61B2017/0488
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0458 Longitudinal through hole, e.g. suture blocked by a distal suture knot
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0647 having one single leg, e.g. tacks

Abstract

A bioabsorbable, cannulated tissue tack having an oblong head is used in sutureless soft tissue fixation to bone, particularly in arthroscopic shoulder surgery. A plurality of ribs are formed along the shaft of the tack. Repair of the glenohumeral joint is performed by installing the tack through a hole formed through the soft tissue of the labrum and into the cancellous bone of the glenoid rim. Aligning the oblong head of the tack lengthwise along the glenoid rim provides a low profile that avoids articular impingement on the tack head.

Claims

1. A method for sutureless fixation of tissue to the glenoid rim using a bioabsorbable tissue tack having a cannulated, non-expandable shaft with a distal end and a proximal end, at least one rib formed on the cannulated shaft, and a cannulated, longitudinally oblong head as viewed along a central axis of the tack disposed on the proximal end of the shaft, the method comprising the steps of:

forming a hole in the glenoid rim; and

installing the bioabsorbable tissue tack through the tissue and into the hole in the glenoid rim, wherein the tissue tack is secured in the hole by engagement of the at least one rib without any expansion of the shaft, and wherein the tissue is fixed against the glenoid rim by the cannulated, longitudinally oblong head of the tissue tack, the oblong head being aligned along the glenoid rim.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of installing the bioabsorbable tissue tack includes the steps of positioning a guide wire in the hole in the bone, disposing the cannulated shaft of the tissue tack over the guide wire, and advancing the tissue tack along the guide wire into the hole in the bone.