Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: Rotator cuff tears constitute a vast majority of shoulder-related injuries, occurring in a wide population range and increasing in incidence with age. Current treatments for full thickness tears use suture to secure the ruptured tendon back to its native attachment site and often retear due to improper enthesis regeneration. To reduce the occurrence of retear, our laboratory developed an engineered tendon graft for rotator cuff repair (ETG-RC) to serve as an underlayment to traditional suture repair. We hypothesize the ETG-RC will aid in the repair of the torn rotator cuff tendon by promoting the regeneration of a functional enthesis. This devitalized graft fabricated from ovine-derived bone marrow stromal cells was evaluated for biomechanical and histomorphology properties in an ovine infraspinatus rotator cuff repair model. Compared with a current standard practice Suture-Only model, the ETG-RC repair showed comparable high strain-to-failure forces, greater fibrocartilage deposition, regeneration of zonal gradients, and Shapey's fibers formation, indicative of enthesis regeneration. Enthesis regeneration after rotator cuff repair should repair mechanical properties and alleviate the need for subsequent surgeries required due to retear. The ETG-RC could potentially be used for repairing other tendon injuries throughout the body.
Source: Tissue Engineering Part A
Institution: University of Michigan
Language: English
Subfield: Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Award: G4599319085
OpenAlex ID: W4385607411