arthroscopic techniques have held firmly to the opinion that there is
nothing as effective as tying a knot, and for a long time that was true.
The quality and stability of knotless anchor kits and other implantable,
pre-tied systems that feature sliding knots that can be tightened to a
case's need have improved a great deal, providing a solid, easily repro-
ducible solution even for those who aren't comfortable with arthroscopic
tying.
While it's not unheard of for these pre-prepared systems to fail fol-
lowing surgery, manually tied knots can cause post-op complications,
too, if they should migrate into the wrong part of the cartilage. In cer-
tain areas of the shoulder, knotless anchors can even be more effec-
tive, and present less risk, than arthroscopically tied knots. OSM
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J U LY 2 0 1 5 | O U T P A T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T
Dr. Ochoa (eochoa@icloud.com) specializes in complex shoulder arthroscopies,
sports medicine cases and general orthopedics at the San Antonio (Texas) Orthopaedic Group.