Suture anchors in orthopaedics–uses other than shoulder surgery

The various types of suture anchors have become widely accepted in the orthopaedic shoulder surgery. The common uses being for Bankarts repair and rotator cuff repair. The use of suture anchors in orthopaedic surgery for indications other than shoulder surgery is sparsely reported in the literature. We report on our observations from a single centre following use of anchors outside the shoulder joint. We have successfully used the suture anchors for repair of the lateral collateral ligament, the insertional tear of the Tendo-Achilles, fractures of the lower pole of the patella, triceps insertional tear, for repair of quadriceps tendon following partial avulsion. This highlights the importance of this tiny device in the armamentarium of a sports medicine surgeon.