Are Suture Tape Knots as Secure as Standard Suture? A Biomechanical Study

Abstract

Background: Few studies have investigated the biomechanical performance of flat-braided suture tapes versus round-braided sutures after being knotted. Purpose: To compare the loop security and knot strength of a standard round-braided suture with 3 commercially available flat-braided suture tapes using 2 types of arthroscopic knots. Study Design: Controlled laboratory study. Methods: One standard suture (SS) and 3 suture tapes (T1, T2, and T3) were tied with the surgeon’s knot (SK) and the Tennessee slider (TS), 25 times each, by a single surgeon. Each combination of knots and sutures underwent a preload, cyclic loading, and load to failure. Outcomes were loop security (defined by loop stretch after a 5-N preload), load at clinical failure (3 mm of displacement), and load at ultimate failure (suture rupture or knot slippage). Two-way analysis of variance was used for analysis. Results: Overall, the SK group had greater overall loop security than that of the TS group (0.4 ± 0.3 vs 0.5 ± 0.3 mm of stretch, respectively; P =.020). The clinical failure load varied by suture type (P