Patent ID: 8888849

Claim:
A method of repairing soft tissue of a joint of a human extremity, the joint including a metapodial bone and a proximal phalanx, the extremity having volar and dorsal aspects, the method comprising: maintaining the metapodial bone intact; inserting a distal portion of a suture passing instrument into a space adjacent the metapodial and phalangeal bones; and moving a needle of the suture passing instrument to pass a suture through the soft tissue to be repaired, wherein the soft tissue to be repaired comprises a volar ligament, the method comprising passing the suture through the volar ligament near a distal end of the metapodial bone and reattaching the volar ligament to the proximal phalanx, further comprising making an incision on the dorsal aspect of the extremity to expose the dorsal aspect of the extremity and wherein the step of inserting a distal portion of a suture passing instrument comprises inserting the distal portion through the incision on the dorsal aspect of the extremity, inserting the distal portion of the suture passing instrument into a tendon sheath connected to a volar plate; and passing a portion of a suture through the volar plate, wherein the metapodial bone is a metatarsal bone, the volar ligament is the plantar plate, and the tendon sheath is the lumbrical tendon sheath of a human foot.