ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: A new scaffold design combined with a peptide growth factor was tested prospectively for safety and for improved tendon healing in sheep. METHODS: The infraspinatus tendon was detached and then surgically repaired to the humerus using sutures and anchors in 50 adult sheep. The repairs in 40 of these sheep were reinforced with a scaffold containing F2A, a peptide mimetic of basic fibroblast growth factor. The sheep were examined after 8 or 26 weeks with magnetic resonance imaging, full necropsy, and histopathologic analysis. A second cohort of 30 sheep underwent surgical repair--20 with scaffolds containing F2A. The 30 shoulders were tested mechanically after 8 weeks. RESULTS: The scaffold and F2A showed no toxicity. Scaffold-repaired tendons were 31% thicker than surgically repaired controls (P = .037) at 8 weeks. There was more new bone formed at the tendon footprint in sheep treated with F2A. Surgically repaired tendons delaminated from the humerus across 14% of the footprint area. The extent of delamination decreased to 1.3% with increasing doses of F2A (P = .004). More of the repair tissue at the footprint was tendon-like in the peptide-treated sheep. On mechanical testing, only 7 shoulders tore at the repair site. The repairs in the other 23 shoulders were already stronger than the midsubstance tendon at 8 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: The new scaffold and peptide safely improved tendon healing.
