Biomechanical Comparison of Augmentation of Engineered Tendon-Fibrocartilage-Bone Composite With Acellular Dermal Graft Using Double Rip-Stop Technique for Canine Rotator Cuff Repair

BACKGROUND: The retear rate after rotator cuff repair remains unacceptably high. Various biological engineered scaffolds have been proposed to reduce the retear rate. We have developed a double rip-stop repair with medial row knot (DRSK) technique to enhance suture-tendon strength and a novel engineered tendon-fibrocartilage-bone composite (TFBC) for rotator cuff repair. HYPOTHESIS: DRSK rotator cuff repair augmented with TFBC will have better biomechanical properties than that of DRSK repair with an acellular dermal graft (DG). STUDY DESIGN: Controlled laboratory study. METHODS: Fresh-frozen canine shoulders (n = 30) and knees (n = 10) were used. TFBCs were harvested from the patellar tendon–tibia complex and prepared for rotator cuff repair. The infraspinatus tendon was sharply detached from its bony attachment and randomly assigned to the (1) control group: DRSK repair alone, (2) TFBC group: DRSK repair with TFBC, and (3) DG group: DRSK repair with DG. All specimens were tested to failure, and videos were recorded. The footprint area, tendon thickness, load to create 3-mm gap formation, failure load, failure modes, and stiffness were recorded and compared. Data were recorded as mean ± SD. RESULTS: The mean load to create a 3-mm gap in both the control group (206.8 ± 55.7 N) and TFBC group (208.9 ± 39.1 N) was significantly higher than that in the DG group (157.7 ± 52.3 N) (P < .05 for all). The failure load of the control group (275.7 ± 75.0 N) and TFBC group (275.2 ± 52.5 N) was significantly higher compared with the DG group (201.5 ± 49.7 N) (P < .05 for both comparisons). The stiffness of the control group (26.4 ± 4.7 N/mm) was significantly higher than of the TFBC group (20.4 ± 4.4 N/mm) and the DG group (21.1 ± 4.8 N/mm) (P < .05 for both comparisons). CONCLUSION: TFBC augmentation showed superior biomechanical performance to DG augmentation in rotator cuff tears repaired using the DRSK technique, while there was no difference between the TFBC and control groups. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: TFBC may help to reduce retear or gap formation after rotator cuff repair using the DRSK technique.