Importance

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Abstract

An elongated grasper-stitcher instrument particularly useful for arthroscopic knee surgery, permits the grasping and stitching of a stump of torn tissue, such as anterior cruciate ligament, or meniscus, during arthroscopic knee surgery. The grasper-stitcher permits multiple loops of suture to engage a stump of tissue at varying levels, and subsequent anchoring of the suture outside of a bore in the lateral pfemoral condyle. The arthroscopic tool defines a pair of atromatic grasping jaws, through parallel fingers of arcuate enclosure, which are spaced laterally so as to accommodate axial passage of a long surgical needle into the proximate end of the elongated tubular housing, through the hollow inner tube, and out through the jaw assembly, even for positions of relative closure between the movable jaw and the fixed jaw. The invention further comprises a method of comparing tissue by permitting several plurality of loops to be defined in the tissue by inserting a first needle with suture through the tissue, and using the opposite end of the suture with a second needle that also is inserted through the hollow tube and out through a receiving cannular, on the opposite side of the tissue through which the loop has been defined.

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First Claim