Soft tissue fixation to bone.

This experiment was designed to compare the immediate fixation strengths of various methods of soft tissue fixation techniques. The fixation techniques tested were the barbed staple, stone staple, suture techniques, screw with spiked plastic washer, and the screw with spiked soft tissue plate. Cadaveric soft tissue specimens were classified into three distinct morphologic types: capsular, tendinous, and extensor mechanism tissue. Each specimen was fixed to bone by one of the fixation techniques. The specimens were loaded in a cyclical fashion until fixation failure occurred. One hundred thirty-seven trials were performed. The screws with the spiked plastic washer and soft tissue plate proved superior overall for all three tissue types. The stone staple was the poorest technique tested. Therefore, if cyclic loading or tension is anticipated at the fixation site, the fixation technique of choice would be the screw with spiked plastic washer or soft tissue fixation plate.