AANA19 Shoulder Access Pass-Tricks to Deal with Poor Tissue and Bone-Dr. Stephen S. Burkhart, M.D.

Tricks to Deal with Poor Tissue and Bone-Dr. Stephen S. Burkhart, M.D.

Video Transcription

Video Summary

The speaker shares surgical tips for challenging rotator cuff repairs, including passing suture tape through poor quality, thin tendons using an anti-grade suture passer carefully to avoid ripping. For short, retracted tendons, a modified double interval slide mobilizes the tendon, followed by a load-sharing rip stop repair with inverted mattress tape to reinforce fixation. For poor quality bone leading to loose anchors, a "buddy anchor" technique wedges a second anchor beside the first to improve stability. These methods create stronger, self-reinforcing repairs by sharing load and improving fixation in difficult biological conditions.

Keywords

rotator cuff repair

surgical tips

suture tape technique

buddy anchor method

load-sharing rip stop repair