Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Sep;52(5):392-396.
doi: 10.1016/j.aott.2018.07.002. Epub 2018 Aug 16.

"Horizontal butterfly" technique in repair of radial meniscus tears: A biomechanical study

Murat Aşçi  1 , Orhan Balta  2 , Recep Kurnaz  3 , Mehmet Burtaç Eren  4 , Yunus Emre Kuyucu  5 , Taner Güneş  6
Affiliations

"Horizontal butterfly" technique in repair of radial meniscus tears: A biomechanical study

Murat Aşçi et al. Acta Orthop Traumatol Turc. 2018 Sep.

Abstract

Introduction: Radial meniscus tears are seen in young patients, especially with anterior cruciate ligament ruptures. Repair of complete radial meniscus tear is necessary for the meniscus functions. The most important factor for success of the meniscus repair is primary stability, but it is still unknown which technique is ideal repair technique.

Aim: We developed a new suture technique named Horizontal Butterfly (HB). In this novel technique the contact between meniscal tissue and suture is more than Horizontal Loop (HL) that routinely used today. So, we think that this technique will provide better fixation than HL. We aimed to compare 2 repair techniques (HB vs. HL) using human lateral menisci biomechanically with cyclic loading and load to failure tests.

Material-method: We used 22 intact lateral meniscus obtained from patients that operated (total knee replacement) for varus gonarthrosis in our clinic. All menisci were cut radially. In the first group (n:11) menisci were repaired with standard horizontal loop technique, and in the second group (n:11) horizontal butterfly technique were used for repair. All specimens were tested with load to failure test after cyclic loading test (500 cycle X 5-30 N).

Results: Both groups have similar failure load (71,4 ± 17,52 N vs. 77,9 ± 28,49 N; p:0,559) and stiffness (24,46 ± 19,19 N vs. 24,48 ± 15,87 N; p:0,818). HB group has less peak displacement (6,26 ± 1,24 mm vs. 8,4 ± 1,92 mm; p:0,010).

Conclusion: This novel repair technique decreases the amount of displacement according to standard technique while as strong as standard technique routinely used. In this way; we believe that it will increase the rate of healing in clinical use.

Keywords: Cyclic loading; Horizontal butterfly; Horizontal loop; Meniscus surgery; Radial meniscus tear; Repair techniques.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schematic drawings of HL (horizontal loop) and HB (horizontal butterfly) suture techniques.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Placement of the repaired meniscus on the biomechanical tester.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The peeling of the suture from the meniscus after the failure test.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Allen C.R., Wong E.K., Livesay G.A., Sakane M., Fu F.H., Woo S.L. Importance of the medial meniscus in the anterior cruciate ligament-deficient knee. J Orthop Res. 2000 Jan;18(1):109–115. - PubMed
    1. Allen P.R., Denham R.A., Swan A.V. Late degenerative changes after meniscectomy. Factors affecting the knee after operation. J Bone Joint Surg Br. 1984 Nov;66(5):666–671. - PubMed
    1. Krause W.R., Pope M.H., Johnson R.J., Wilder D.G. Mechanical changes in the knee after meniscectomy. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1976 Jul;58(5):599–604. - PubMed
    1. McDermott I.D., Amis A.A. The consequences of meniscectomy. J Bone Joint Surg Br. 2006 Dec;88(12):1549–1556. - PubMed
    1. Meakin J.R., Shrive N.G., Frank C.B., Hart D.A. Finite element analysis of the meniscus: the influence of geometry and material properties on its behaviour. Knee. 2003 Mar;10(1):33–41. - PubMed

MeSH terms