Abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy,histology, and strength of laser welding in repair ofsharply transected rat Achilles tendons. In 26 adult,male Sprague-Dawley rats, the severed tendons wererepaired with a 7-0 nylon, modified Kessler core suturefollowed by either a running 9-0 nylon epitendinoussuture or a circumferential CO$-2$/ laser epidendinousweld using 25% human albumin as a solder. All repairswere timed and post-operative tensile strength wasanalyzed with material testing equipment. In addition,histologic testing was performed on both types ofrepairs. The mean time to complete the epitendinousrepair in the laser group was 3.5 minutes and in thesuture group, 8 minutes. The mean ultimate tensilestrength in 6 normal tendons was 40.9 Newtons (N) withgroup standard deviation of 5.2 N. When compared withnormal controls, post-operatively both types of tendonrepairs resulted in tensile failure at lower forces.The ultimate tensile strength for the epitendinoussuture repair and the laser welds were 13% and 6% ofnormal controls, respectively. Twenty tendons withepidendinous suture repair had mean ultimate tensilestrength of 5.4 ($POM@1.2) N, while the 17 tendons withlaser wends failed at 2.6 ($POM@0.9) N. Histologicevaluation of tendons repaired with CO$-2$/ laserrevealed areas of coagulation and edema on the surfaceof tendon edges. Post-operatively, greater tissuechanges were noted in laser treated tendons than thoserepaired with sutures. Laser welding of epitenon ispossible and can be completed faster than the suturerepair. The repaired tendon surface appears smootherand less bulky after laser treatment. However,significantly decreased immediate post-operativestrength was demonstrated by the use of Kruskal-Wallisone way analysis of variance and Turkey's pairwisecomparison.!16
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