Proximal Patellar Tendon Repair: Internal Brace Technique With Unicortical Buttons and Suture Tape

Patellar tendon ruptures may be considerably limiting, especially in younger and highly active patients. These injuries ultimately result in a complete inability to maintain extension of the knee, thereby placing strict impediment on physical activity. As a result, a durable repair construct via surgery is necessary to allow patients to return to their preinjury activity level. Because of the inherent difficulty in maintaining patellar tendon position after repair, and to avoid failure of the tendon healing to the patella, we recommend using an internal brace construct. The construct uses bone tunnels in the patella and also cortical buttons on the tibia with suture tape whipstitched through the tendon. We feel that this provides an enhanced fixation construct. The purpose of this Technical Note is to describe our preferred method for proximal patellar tendon repair via an internal brace construct with unicortical buttons and suture tape.