A Retrospective Study on the Efficacy, Safety, and Clinical and Radiological Outcomes of PEEK Anchors (CEPTRE® Knotted Suture Anchor and VIPLOK® Knotless Anchor) in the Treatment of Rotator Cuff Repairs

Abstract

Background: Rotator cuff tears are a common cause of disability in the shoulder of the aging population. Rotator cuff repair is performed to address disability arising from rotator cuff tears, which fails to improve by conservative treatment. The present retrospective study was undertaken to explore the efficacy, safety, clinical, and radiological outcomes of PEEK suture anchors (Ceptre® suture anchor and Viplok® knotless anchor; Sironix, Healthium MedTech, India) in the treatment of arthroscopic rotator cuff repairs. Method: This is a retrospective cohort study of arthroscopic rotator cuff repair of posterosuperior tears, which was performed between January 2019 and December 2020 with a minimum follow-up of one year. The demographic data, history, preoperative clinical, magnetic resonance imaging report, and intraoperative details of each patient operated on were obtained from medical records. Post-operative clinical assessments of patients were done based on American Shoulder and Elbow Score (ASES) and Single Sssessment Numeric Evaluation (SANE) scores. Ultrasonography (USG) was done to assess any anchor pull-out and structural healing of the cuff. X-rays were performed to look for the anchor’s metallic tip migration. Results: A total of 65 patients were included in the study. There were 43 males (66.2%) and 22 females (33.8%). The mean age was 55.98 (±7.9) years (range: 40-69 years). The mean follow-up was 21.9 months (range: 12-46). Mean (±SD) postoperative ASES and SANE scores at the end of one year were 81.5 (±14.27) and 83.55 (±13.83), respectively. There was significant improvement with respect to the preoperative scores (p<0.0001). USG revealed complete healing in 80% of cases, partial tears in 10.8 %, and full-thickness tears in 9.2% of cases. No anchor pull-outs were noted on USG. X-rays did not reveal unusually large cystic areas in the humeral head or metallic tip migration from the humeral head at their last follow-up. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that PEEK suture anchors (Ceptre® knotted suture anchor and Viplok® knotless anchor; Sironix, Healthium MedTech, India) are a viable option for successful surgery in the treatment of arthroscopic rotator cuff repairs without any major anchor related complications.