US-20260123925-A1 - Knotless All-Inside Suture Constructs and Methods of Tissue Fixation

Abstract

Knotless, all inside self-locking constructs and methods of tissue repairs are disclosed herein. A flexible strand can be passed through a friction-based locking mechanism to create a plurality of closed, knotless, continuous, adjustable, flexible loops having adjustable perimeters, the loops being located between a loop interconnection and two terminal ends.

Inventors

• Samuel Bachmaier
• Raphael HAHN
• Dominik Steffens

Assignees

• ARTHREX, INC.

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20260102

Claims (6)

1. 1 . A method of forming a knotless self-locking repair, comprising: passing a first end of a flexible strand through a locking mechanism to form a first plurality of locking points, and a first flexible, continuous, closed, adjustable, knotless loop having an adjustable length; passing a second end of the flexible strand through the first flexible, continuous, closed, adjustable, knotless loop and through the locking mechanism to form a second plurality of locking points, and a second flexible, continuous, closed, adjustable, knotless loop having an adjustable length; and tensioning the repair by pulling on at least one of the first end and the second end.
2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the locking mechanism is a Chinese finger trap, a flexible coupler, or a suture ring.
3. 3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: attaching a first tissue to the flexible strand by passing the first end of the flexible strand through the first tissue with a passing device; forming the first flexible, continuous, closed, adjustable, knotless loop; attaching a second tissue to the first tissue by passing the second end of the flexible strand through the first flexible, continuous, closed, adjustable, knotless loop and through the locking mechanism; and pulling on at least one of the first and second ends of the flexible strand to adjust tension of the first and second flexible, continuous, closed, adjustable, knotless loops, to approximate the first tissue to the second tissue.
4. 4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the first tissue is soft tissue and the second tissue is bone.
5. 5 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the first and second flexible, continuous, closed, adjustable, knotless loops are separated by a loop interconnection that connects the two suture loops.
6. 6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the repair is a tissue repair of rotator cuff repair, AC joint repair, syndesmosis repair, Achilles tendon repair, patellar tendon repair, ACL/PCL reconstruction, hip and shoulder reconstruction, AC joint reconstruction, syndesmosis reconstruction, quad/patellar tendon rupture repair, or hallux-valgus repair.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/555,030 filed Oct. 12, 2023, which is a U.S. National Stage filing under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Pat. Appln. No. PCT/US2022/029377 filed May 16, 2022, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Pat. Appln. No. 63/190,860 filed May 20, 2021, which the disclosures of all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. BACKGROUND The disclosure relates to surgical devices and, more specifically, to knotless, self-locking constructs and associated methods of tissue repairs. SUMMARY Knotless, all-inside, self-locking anchor constructs and methods of tissue repairs are disclosed. A self-locking construct can create a knotless, all-inside, self-locking repair. A self-locking construct can include (i) an adjustable, closed, flexible, continuous loop; (ii) a loop interconnection; and (iii) a locking mechanism. An adjustable, closed, flexible, continuous loop can have an adjustable perimeter and/or length. A locking mechanism can be located between an adjustable, closed, flexible, continuous loop formed by a single flexible strand and two flexible terminal ends of the strand. A loop interconnection can be in the form of an interconnecting loop link. A locking mechanism can be any friction-based mechanism such as a Chinese finger trap, or a loop shortening mechanism in the form of a flexible coupler with at least one weave region having a plurality of locking points. A weave region can have an accordion/pleated configuration. An all-inside, self-locking construct can be knotless and tensionable. An all-inside self-locking construct may be employed to re-attach anatomical structures, for example, a first tissue to a second tissue, such as soft tissue, tendon, ligament, and/or bone, to each other and/or any combination of one another, by employing an all-inside, self-locking, knotless mechanism. An all-inside, self-locking construct may be employed as a stand-alone construct or with additional fixation devices, for example, attached to one or more buttons. A self-locking mechanism and implant construct for all-inside, self-locking repairs such as knotless attachment of first tissue to second tissue (for example, meniscal repairs or attachment of soft tissue to bone) is disclosed. The implant construct may be an orthopedic implant construct. The construct can be formed of (and formed from) one single continuous flexible strand. Two terminal ends are sequentially run through a locking mechanism (a Chinese finger trap or a flexible coupler such as suture tape or suture ring, for example) to form two interconnected, flexible, continuous, knotless, closed, adjustable loops, each having an adjustable perimeter. In an embodiment, a first terminal end of a flexible strand is woven through a flexible coupler (which can be in the form of a suture tape or suture ring, for example) of a locking mechanism, to form a first flexible loop. The first terminal end is passed through the flexible coupler in one direction and multiple times, to form a first accordion-style weave that creates multiple locking points to lock the first flexible loop. The second terminal end is passed through the first flexible loop (to form a loop interconnection or an interconnecting loop link) and then through the flexible coupler in the same direction and multiple times, to form a second flexible loop and a second accordion-style weave that creates multiple locking points to lock the second flexible loop. Both ends then exit the flexible coupler. The construct can be shrunk when both terminal ends are pulled. The construct can be attached to one or more fixation devices (for example, implant, anchor, screw, plate, button, etc.). A flexible strand can be suture or suture tape, or combination of suture and suture tape. A first flexible loop can be a continuous, adjustable, knotless, closed loop with adjustable perimeter. A second flexible loop can be a continuous, adjustable, knotless, closed loop with adjustable perimeter. In another embodiment, both terminal ends are passed through a flexible coupler in the form of coreless braid or sleeve (similar to a Chinese finger trap) to form a locking mechanism. A flexible strand may be suture or suture tape, ribbon, or any combination thereof (e.g., round and flat suture). The flexible strand can create at least two interconnected, flexible, continuous, adjustable, knotless, closed loops with adjustable perimeters. A terminal end is each run through the flexible coupler of the locking mechanism in an accordion/pleat weave and/or Chinese trap fashion, to complete the loops and to create friction locking points. The implant may be secured to tissue. Tension may then be applied to the terminal ends to shrink/close the loops bringing the tendon/ligament/and/or soft tissues together while locking the construct in place. An all-inside, self-locking, knotless construct may be attached t