Abstract

Silicon rods initially advocated by Hunter have been widely used in two-stage flexor tendon reconstruction. Two-stage tendoplasty is an expensive procedure ; with the addition of the high cost of rods, it is still more expensive. An experimental study investigated cheaper alternatives to silicon rods, but no clinical studies seem to have been reported so far. This study involved 17 patients undergoing two stage flexor tendon grafting. In all fingers, silicon urinary catheters were used as tendon prosthesis. The Wehbe et al modification of the Boyes and Stark classification was used for preoperative classification and Strickland formulation and Buck-Gramcko criteria for postoperative analysis. This clinical study showed that comparable clinical results and proper pseudo-sheaths for tendon grafting with similar histological and physical features can be obtained using a silicon urinary catheter which is fifty times less costly than Hunter's rod.