Surgical repair of recurrent anterior shoulder instability requires secure fixation of the separated inferior glenohumeral complex to bone. Many techniques of fixation are in use for both arthroscopic and open repair. The specific aim of this study was to compare the initial failure strength of eight repair techniques using a previously described canine model of Bankart repair. Intact capsule-to-bone complexes failed at the bony interface at 236 N. Traditional Bankart repair failed at 122.1 N (2 sutures) and 74.7 N (1 suture), Acufex TAG rod (Acufex Microsurgical, Mansfield, MA) at 143.5 N (2 sutures) and 79.8 N (1 suture), transglenoid suture technique (2 sutures) at 166.6 N, Mitek GII (Mitek, Norwood, MA) (1 suture) at 96.4 N, Zimmer Statak (Zimmer Inc, Warsaw, IN) (1 suture) at 95.2 N, and Acufex bioabsorpable Suretac at 82.2 N. The two-suture repairs were statistically equivalent in strength to each other, as were the one-suture repairs and the Suretac device. Two-suture repairs were significantly stronger than the one-suture repairs (P < .01) failure. In the single-suture specimens, failure occurred by suture breakage in 46% (18 of 39) of specimens and soft-tissue failure around the suture in 54% (21 of 39), Failure in the two-suture techniques primarily occurred by soft-tissue failure (23 of 25) and this proved a statistically significant difference (P < .003). No device broke or pulled out of bone. Our results indicate that in a soft-tissue-to-bone repair model (1) pullout of suture anchors is a rare event and suggests that pullout strength of suture anchors should not be the sole basis of comparison of one device to another in Bankart repairs; (2) suture techniques and anchor devices that allow for two sutures exhibit a stronger initial pullout strength than one-suture techniques and devices; (3) suture anchor techniques are equivalent in strength to suture-alone techniques; and (4) all repair techniques are significantly weaker than undisturbed (control) specimens indicating that the ultimate outcome of a Bankart repair, open or arthroscopic, is dependent on physiological repair of soft-tissue to bone. Further study is required to document the strength of soft-tissue-to-bone repair with time. These results are repair specific. Soft-tissue-tobone repair in other areas, i.e., rotator cuff, may show different failure mechanics.

Current modalities for treating a herniated lumbar disc include standard open discectomy, microsurgical discectomy, chemonucleoysis and percutaneous discectomy. The Food and Drug Administration has not yet approved percutaneous laser discectomy for clinical investigation. The investigators believe that percutaneous laser discectomy combines the efficacy of both chemonucleoysis and percutaneous discectomy with the safety of both open standard discectomy and microsurgical discectomy. The investigators removed two lumbar discs from a cadaveric spine and weighed each of them. The two lumbar discs weighed in the range of 13.654 grams and 15.713 grams, respectively. The investigators initiated several series of 10 firing cycles from a surgical carbon dioxide laser system. In each firing cycle the surgical carbon dioxide laser system delivered a beam of light energy having an output power of 18.0 watts at pulse duration of 0.045 second at the rate of 15 pulses per second for a period of 6 seconds and vaporized approximately 325 milligrams of disc material. Based on the findings of other investigators reported in the literature relating to percutaneous discectomy the investigators postulated that 10 to 20 firing cycles are required to vaporize 30 to 40% (2.4 to 6.4 grams) of the disc material. The investigators initiated two series of 10 firing cycles in order to perform laser discectomy in a third lumbar disc of the cadaveric spine in situ. The investigators harvested and then bisected the laser-treated third lumbar disc for gross review. Their gross findings indicated a high probability of success For percutaneous laser discectomy.

One of the authors has performed 162 arthroscopic laser surgeries in the knee joint without any major complication. Other investigators have recently proposed diagnostic arthroscopy and arthroscopic surgery for "non-knee" joints. The authors have proposed that arthroscopic laser surgery he extended to "non-knee" joints. The authors have performed arthroscopic laser surgery on "non-knee" joints of twelve cadavers. One of the authors have performed one successful arthroscopic surgery on a shoulder joint with only a minor, transient complication of subcutaneous emphysema. Is laser arthroscopic surgery safe and effective in "non-knee" joints? The evolving answer appears to be a qualified "Yes," which needs to be verified by a multicenter trial.