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Background: The purpose of the present study was to compare the operative time for graft preparation using different techniques for graft suturing., Material and Methods: Flexor profundus tendons were harvested from fresh pig hind-leg trotters. Three different suture techniques were investigated: the Krackow stitch (K), the Whipstitch (W), and the Modified Finger-Trap suture (MFT). Tendons were sutured starting at 10 mm from the distal free end of the tendon. The suture configurations of the Krackow stitch and Whipstitch were completed with five suture throws. According to the MFT technique, the suture was wrapped five times around the tendon over a distance of 30 mm. The time required to perform a complete suture on each tendon was measured. Five independent examiners of different levels of training measured the time required for graft preparation during 3 separate occasions to determine intraobserver repeatability and interobserver reproducibility., Results: The mean time required for graft preparation following the Krackow technique was 69.1 seconds ± 18.3 SD (range 31.8-120). The Whipstitch technique took an average of 59.9 seconds ± 21.2 SD (range 27-93). The MFT suture required a mean of 29.3 seconds ± 11.4 SD for completing the suture (range 21.6-33). In all examiners the time required to complete the MFT suture was significantly less than the other suture techniques (p < 0.05). Intraobserver intraclass correlation coefficients for each examiner ranged from 0.72 to 0.83., Conclusion: Low graft preparation time is required to complete a MFT suture in a porcine tendon model. Further, time required for graft preparation using the MFT was shorter than other suturing techniques such as the Krackow and Whipstitch techniques., Clinical Relevance: The MFT suture could be used for graft set-up with the main advantage of reducing the time required in comparison with other suture techniques.

Rotator cuff tears are a common cause of pain and shoulder dysfunction. The prevalence of the rotator cuff tears increases with the age reaching the 80% in patients aged more than 80 year. Symptomatic shoulders usually are initially treated conservatively and then, in case of poor outcomes, with surgery. Different parameters are still used to decide between the conservative or surgical treatment in patients with rotator cuff tears. Aim of the current study is to characterize the various features used in decision making and to validate a "Prediction Score" that let us know which patients could have a good and stable outcome with non operative treatment. We enrolled 60 patients (mean age 52 years) with symptomatic rotator cuff tears who were assigned to conservative treatment and were evaluated at 6,9 and 12 months follow-up. We developed a score based on 18 clinical and radiographic parameters. 27 patients ("non conservative") (45%) with a mean prediction score of 16.1 ± 1.7 interrupted the conservative treatment, while 33 patients ("conservative") (55%) with an average prediction score of 11.3 ± 1.8 remained conservatively treated at last follow-up. The conservative patients were 14 years older than non conservative patients. According to the results of this study we identified a value of 13 points as a "cut-off" score to predict good results by conservative management of rotator cuff tear. These outcomes support the assumption that a predictive prognostic score may guarantee a rational approach in the management of subjects with RC tears, especially in elderly who continue to have the higher rate of recurrence and therefore could be well treated with standard conservative therapies.