Reinforced fascia patch limits cyclic gapping of rotator cuff repairs in a human cadaveric model

Background Scaffolds continue to be developed and used for rotator cuff repair augmentation, but clinical or biomechanical data to inform their use are limited. We have developed a reinforced fascia lata patch with mechanical properties to meet the needs of musculoskeletal applications. The objective of this study was to assess the extent to which augmentation of a primary human rotator cuff repair with the reinforced fascia patch can reduce gap formation during in vitro cyclic loading. Materials and methods Nine paired human cadaveric shoulders were used to investigate the cyclic gap formation and failure properties of augmented and non-augmented rotator cuff repairs with loading of 5 to 180 N for 1000 cycles. Results Augmentation significantly decreased the amount of gap formation at cycles 1, 10, 100, and 1000 compared with non-augmented repairs ( P Conclusions This study supports further investigation of reinforced fascia patches to provide mechanical augmentation, minimize tendon retraction, and possibly reduce the incidence of rotator cuff repair failure. Future investigation in animal and human studies will be necessary to fully define the efficacy of the reinforced fascia device in a biologic healing environment.