Primary Flexor Tendon Repair Techniques

to decrease the forces subjected to the repair during early rehabilitation. REPAIR STRENgTH Initially the strength of tendon repair depends only on the properties of the repair technique. Postopera-tively tenomalacia may develop at the suture-tendon junction decreasing initial repair strength (7). With immobilization the strength of the tendon repair has been shown to decrease significantly within the first three weeks of healing (8). However, early passive (9) and especially early active motion (8, 10, 11) have been shown to prevent the initial weakening leading to progressively increasing repair strength starting from the time of repair. The initial strength of the repair depends on the