A New Approach to Improving the Tissue Grip of the Medial-Row Repair in the Suture-Bridge Technique: The “Modified Lasso-Loop Stitch”

Abstract

The double-row rotator cuff repair has proved to be biomechanically superior to the single-row technique. However, this has not been shown clinically. At the moment, all the methods proposed for medial-row suturing in the suture-bridge technique recommend a mattress suture or a simple stitch. The lasso-loop stitch has been proposed as a technique to improve tissue grip and has been used in open rotator cuff repairs, in biceps tenodesis, and in the Bankart procedure. We propose a method in which a modified version of this stitch can be used to repair the medial row of a double-row repair. In the “modified lasso-loop stitch,” a circumferential stitch is constructed over the posteromedial and anteromedial anchor. This stitch exerts an appropriate amount of radial compression on the encased tendon as the tails of the posteromedial and anteromedial suture are fixed to the anterolateral anchor. Through this technique, the reduction force is augmented and a compression force is created, thus allowing restoration of the rotator cuff footprint. This technique provides a strong cuff-suture interface while appropriate tensioning of the modified lasso-loop stitch allows minimal strangulation of the tendon. This technique has been shown to work with and without a knot.