Patent ID: 8070810

Claim:
A method for in situ repair and reconstruction of injured ligaments and tendons comprising steps of: (a) fabricating a protective sleeve or a composite of the protective sleeve with a support matrix wherein said sleeve or said composite has flexibility and contractibility permitting its contraction and compression with extension of said sleeve; (b) selecting a biologically acceptable biodegradable tissue adhesive having a setting time of adhesion in from about 30 seconds to about five minutes, peel strengths of at least 3N/m, tensile strength in the range of 0.8 to 1.0 MPa, and a bond strength from 1 to 6 N/cm 2 , to have a sufficient strength to hold frayed edges of a ruptured ligament or tendon together for a time needed for said frayed edges of said ligament or tendon to grow together; (c) surgically attaching, in situ, one end of the protective sleeve or said composite to the uninjured portion of ligament or tendon, or to the bone where the uninjured healthy ligament or tendon is attached; (d) immobilizing, in situ, said injured ligament or tendon by surgically juxtaposing the frayed edges of the ruptured ligament or tendon to a close proximity of each other and connecting said frayed edges together using said biologically acceptable biodegradable tissue adhesive and sealing a space between and around the two edges of the ruptured ligament or tendon with said adhesive; (e) applying, in situ, said tissue adhesive to a top of, around or in between said juxtaposed frayed edges of step (d) thereby attaching said frayed edges together and sealing an area around and between said edges with said adhesive; (f) extending, in situ, said protective sleeve or said composite over and covering a sealed area of step (e) with said protective sleeve or said composite; (g) attaching, in situ, a second end of said protective sleeve or said composite o an uninjured portion of the ligament or tendon or to a bone where the other end of the uninjured ligament is attached, or to a muscle where the uninjured tendon is attached; and (h) stabilizing a site of the injury by limiting weight bearing and/or range of motion for a time needed for the frayed edges of the ruptured ligament or tendon to grow together.