DePuy Synthes Launches Suture Designed to Address Rotator Cuff Surgery Challenges

Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies through the DePuy Synthes franchise today announces the U.S. launch of DYNACORD Suture to repair soft tissue such as the rotator cuff in the shoulder. Part of the DePuy Synthes Mitek Sports Medicine portfolio, DYNACORD Suture is available on HEALIX ADVANCE Anchors and adds to DePuy Synthes’ solutions designed to help address unmet patient needs in soft tissue repair. DYNACORD Suture was launched today at the San Diego Shoulder Institute’s 35th Annual Course.
 
An estimated 25 percent of people over the age of 60 have a full tear of the rotator cuff in which the rotator cuff tendon no longer fully attaches to the head of the upper arm bone.1 The goal of arthroscopic rotator cuff surgery is to reattach the tissue to the upper arm using suture and an anchor. These types of repairs have been shown to reduce pain, improve motion and restore function for patients. However, failure can occur in approximately 20 percent of surgeries2 due to loss of suture tension, which causes gaps to form in the tissue or between the tissue and bone.
 
To help address complications like these, DYNACORD Suture responds to changes in repair tension that occur over time to promote stability during the healing process. The suture shortens when tension is lost to maintain strong tissue to bone compression, called approximation, throughout the healing period and reduce loss of suture tension and gap formation.
 
“The scientific support for DYNACORD Suture’s safety and effectiveness is solid and the benefit of a suture that can actually take up slack in a repair will help me better serve my patients,” said Dr. F. Alan Barber, orthopedic surgeon. “I am excited to be able to provide this technology.”

This is how DYNACORD Suture performs in the body:
 

• DYNACORD Suture consists of two outer sheaths of braided fibers and a core made of silicone and salt. This internal salt-filled core helps DYNACORD Suture maintain a stable repair environment.
• When DYNACORD Suture is placed in the body during surgery, the salt particles within the silicone core dissolve, leaving behind a porous structure within the silicone core.
• These small voids are filled with surrounding fluid as the core hydrates, which causes the braided sheath to expand outward, and the suture to shorten in length. This happens if the repair loses tension, to help the suture maintain the stable repair environment throughout the healing process.

 
“The launch of DYNACORD Suture provides us with a unique opportunity to respond to a very real patient need,” said Stephanie Chamberlain, Global Platform Leader Mitek Sports Medicine and Shoulder Reconstruction. “We have a comprehensive portfolio of sutures and anchors for soft tissue repair, and we continue to bring differentiated innovation to the market that can truly address surgeon and patient needs.”
 
DYNACORD Suture on HEALIX ADVANCE Anchors is currently in limited launch in the U.S. with full launch expected in the third quarter of 2018.