Abstracts Posters SICOT-SOF meeting Gothenburg 2010 _2_

Poster
Topic: Biomaterials
Abstract number: 24634
LIGAMENT AND TENDON REPAIR USING A FULLY SYNTHETIC, RESORBABLE
GRAFT
Jan LIDSTRÖM
Dept.Orth.Surg., Mölndal (SWEDEN)
Introduction: Longstanding, missed ligament or tendon ruptures of the foot often have
the problem of a substantial tissue gap. This is often solved by sacrificing other
available soft tissue for repair. Purpose: To evaluate a new material that is fully
synthetic and to investigate the feasibility of the graft in surgical procedures of the
foot. Method: The patients had a foot operation because of flatfoot or neglected
Achilles tendon or TFL rupture. The flat foot surgery included spring ligament
ruptures. The ligament rupture was adapted and reinforced by an Artelon mesh graft
from the navicular bone to the sustentacular process (the normal extension).In the
Achilles tendon repair, a graft was sutured as a stocking, connecting both ends of the
Achilles. In the talo fibular ligament repair the artelon graft was sutured as a
superficial covering reinforcement. Artelon is a fully synthetic degradable biomaterial.
It keeps 50% of its strength for 4 years and is 100% degraded in 5 years. Results:
We performed 17 ligament and tendon repairs. The clinical results are good with
painfree, almost full restoration of clinical function and no relapses so far. We have
seen no adverse effects during the observation time. The longest follow up is 4
years. Discussion: The use of an Artelon mesh graft proved to be a useful way to
bridge tissue defects without sacrificing other tissues. The fact that Artelon is a
synthetic material diminishes the risk of anti body reaction and eliminates the risk of
viral pollution of the graft.
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