Iranian Journal of Orthopedic Surgery

Abstract Background/objective: Tendon allografts are valuable tools for reconstructing tendon tissues in several anatomical sites, when autograft or tendon transfer is not available or feasible. For the aim of introducing an ideal tendon graft, in the following investigation, a specific allograft tendon was processed and characterized.
Methods: Tendon allograft obtained from hallucis longus and digitorum longus tendon named Double Tendon (DT) was evaluated regarding its structural stability as well as in-vitro biological compatibility. On this basis, a clinical trial including 20 male patients aged between 30-40 years was performed via designing a questionnaire and asking the surgeons to evaluate the predefined qualifications (such as stabilization, repairability, handling, sizing, etc.) of DT during and post-surgery in a 1-year follow-up on a 4-stage ranking (excellent, very good, good, and fail).
Results and discussion: According to performed evaluations, this product was capable of tensile load bearing to the ultimate extent of 7.33 ± 0.87 MPa, which is acceptable for a tendon substitute concerning the literature. Regarding the cytocompatibility results, the cellular viability on DT with 98.13 ± 0.18 % was not significantly lower than the cell viability of the control sample. Also, based on the statistical analysis, the surgeons reported satisfaction with DT’s structural attributes and clinical effectiveness since no “fail” was observed in any parameters. Additionally, there were no instances of inflammation, infection, or rejection reported following DT transplantation.
Conclusion: Herein, the DT was introduced as safe and efficient substitute for the aim of tendon tissue repair.