Claims
- 1. A method of soft tissue repair, comprising the steps of:
forming a hole in a bone at a location at which a soft tissue graft is to be affixed; attaching at least one suture to the soft tissue graft to be affixed; capturing the suture attached to the graft and inserting the suture into the bottom of the hole; drawing the soft tissue graft to the hole; and installing a tissue anchor into the hole to secure the suture in the hole by interference-friction fixation between the tissue anchor and the bone forming the hole.
- 2. The method of graft repair according to claim 1, wherein the tissue anchor is a cannulated intereference device, and the method further comprises the steps of:
loading the cannulated interference device onto a cannulated driver; and using the driver to install the interference device into the hole.
- 3. The method of graft repair according to claim 2, wherein the interference device is a screw.
- 4. The method of graft repair according to claim 2, wherein the interference device is one of a wedge or a plug.
- 5. The method of graft repair according to claim 2, further comprising the step of passing suture through the cannula of the driver such that a loop of suture is exposed at the distal end of the driver, wherein the step of capturing the suture attached to the graft includes:
feeding the suture attached to the graft through the loop of suture at the distal end of the driver, tightening the suture loop, and inserting the distal end of the driver into the hole.
- 6. The method of graft repair according to claim 2, wherein the step of capturing and inserting the suture attached to the graft includes:
inserting the suture attached to the graft into the cannula of the driver from the distal end thereof, feeding the suture through the driver to the proximal end thereof, drawing the graft towards the distal end of the driver by pulling on the at least one suture from the proximal end of the driver, and inserting the distal end of the driver into the hole.
- 7. The method of graft repair according to claim 2, wherein the driver includes an outer shaft disposed around an inner shaft and movable between a proximal position and a distal position along the inner shaft, and wherein the interference device is loaded onto the inner shaft by inserting the inner shaft through the cannula of the interference device with the outer shaft retracted to the proximal position so that the proximal end of the loaded interference device abuts the distal end of the outer shaft.
- 8. The method of graft repair according to claim 7, wherein
the interference device is a screw having a hex-shaped cannula, a distal portion of the inner shaft of the driver is hex-shaped to be matingly insertable into the hex-chaped interference screw cannula, the inner shaft of the driver is rotatable relative to the outer shaft to move the outer shaft between the proximal and distal positions therealong, and the interference screw is installed by turning the inner shaft to drive the interference screw into the bone while preventing the outer shaft from rotating so that the outer shaft moves distally along the inner shaft to guide the interference screw into the bone.
- 9. The method of graft repair according to claim 7, wherein
the interference device is a plug, the inner shaft of the driver is slidable relative to the outer shaft to move the outer shaft between the proximal and distal positions therealong, and the interference plug is installed by impacting the outer shaft with a mallet until the proximal end of the outer shaft is aligned with the proximal end of the inner shaft, the interference plug being pushed into the bone by the distal end of the outer shaft.
- 10. A method of soft tissue repair, comprising the steps of:
forming a hole in a bone at a location at which a soft tissue graft is to be affixed; capturing the soft tissue graft and inserting the soft tissue graft into the bottom of the hole; and inserting a tissue anchor into the hole to secure the soft tissue graft in the hole by interference-friction fixation between the tissue anchor and the bone forming the hole.
- 11. The method of graft repair according to claim 10, wherein the tissue anchor is a cannulated interference device, and the method further comprises the steps of:
loading the cannulated interference device onto a cannulated driver; passing suture through the cannula of the driver to expose a loop of suture at the distal end of the driver; and using the driver to install the interference device into the hole, wherein the step of capturing and inserting the graft includes:
feeding the graft through the loop of suture at the distal end of the driver, tightening the suture loop from the proximal end of the driver, and inserting the distal end of the driver into the hole.
- 12. The method of graft repair according to claim 11, wherein the interference device is a screw.
- 13. The method of graft repair according to claim 11, wherein the interference device is one of a wedge or a plug.
- 14. The method of graft repair according to claim 11, wherein the driver includes an outer shaft disposed around an inner shaft and movable between a proximal position and a distal position along the inner shaft, and wherein the interference device is loaded onto the inner shaft by inserting the inner shaft through the cannula of the interference device with the outer shaft retracted to the proximal position so that the proximal end of the loaded interference device abuts the distal end of the outer shaft.
- 15. The method of graft repair according to claim 14, wherein
the interference device is a screw having a hex-shaped cannula, a distal portion of the inner shaft of the driver is hex-shaped to be matingly insertable into the hex-shaped interference screw cannula, the inner shaft of the driver is rotatable relative to the outer shaft to move the outer shaft between the proximal and distal positions therealong, and the interference screw is installed by turning the inner shaft to drive the interference screw into the bone while preventing the outer shaft from rotating so that the outer shaft moves distally along the inner shaft to guide the interference screw into the bone.
- 16. The method of graft repair according to claim 14, wherein
the interference device is a plug, the inner shaft of the driver is slidable relative to the outer shaft to move the outer shaft between the proximal and distal positions therealong, and the interference plug is installed by impacting the outer shaft with a mallet until the proximal end of the outer shaft is aligned with the proximal end of the inner shaft, whereby the interference plug is pushed into the bone by the distal end of the outer shaft.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/213,263 filed Jun. 22, 2000.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60213263 |
Jun 2000 |
US |