Arthroscopic double-row repair of full-thickness rotator cuff tears using a suture bridge technique

There has been a recent trend towards arthroscopic treatment of full-thickness rotator cuff tears. The results of this technique have compared favorably with those of open and arthroscopically assisted mini-open rotator cuff repairs. Obtaining tendon to bone healing however still remains an issue. High failure rates have been reported in the literature with each of these techniques, particularly with large and massive tears. Recent interest has focused on reestablishing the anatomical foot print of the rotator cuff using an arthroscopic double-row repair to provide an increased surface area for tendon to bone healing. However, traditional double-row repairs using knots for the medial and lateral rows fail to produce compression between the rows. In this article we describe our technique for a double-row repair using a suture bridge technique that functions to broaden the area of compression between the two rows.