Tenodesis of the long head of biceps brachii: Cyclic testing of five methods of fixation in a porcine model

Abstract

For pathologies of the long head of the biceps brachii, various surgical treatment options have been described, ranging from tenotomy to different open and arthroscopic techniques for tenodesis. We analyzed the biomechanical properties of 5 widely used operative techniques for tenodesis of the long head of the biceps brachii: an interference screw (7 x 23-mm Arthrex BioTenodesis screw), a suture anchor (5 x 15-mm Arthrex BioCorkscrew), a ligament washer, the keyhole technique, and the bone tunnel technique. Ten porcine humeri for each technique were used to evaluate the ultimate failure load and cyclic displacement. Tenodesis with the interference screw showed a significantly greater ultimate failure load compared with every other technique (480.9 +/- 116.5 N, P < .005) and the least displacement after 200 cycles, significantly less in comparison to the keyhole and bone tunnel techniques (4.28 +/- 1.44 mm, P < .05). Interference screw fixation has superior biomechanical properties with respect to cyclic displacement and primary fixation strength.