Podcasts
From Tear to Return to Play: Optimizing Rotator Cuff Outcomes w/ The Sports Docs Live at AOSSM 2026
In this episode of The Sports Docs Podcast LIVE from the AOSSM Annual Meeting in Seattle, Dr. Albert Lin and Dr. JT Tokish join Dr. Ashley Bassett and Dr. Catherine Logan to discuss strategies for optimizing rotator cuff repair outcomes.
The conversation begins with the evolution of the SpeedBridge repair construct and the emergence of the FiberTak SpeedBridge, including the potential advantages of smaller all-suture medial anchors, bone preservation, independent tensioning, and rip-stop techniques.
The discussion then moves into one of the most rapidly evolving areas in rotator cuff surgery: biologic and structural augmentation.
Evolving the SpeedBridge
The SpeedBridge technique has become one of the most established approaches to arthroscopic rotator cuff repair, with more than 15 years of clinical experience supporting its durability.
The group discusses:
How SpeedBridge has changed arthroscopic rotator cuff repair
Footprint restoration and broad tendon-to-bone compression
Load distribution across the repair construct
Long-term clinical outcomes and survivorship
FiberTak SpeedBridge: The Next Evolution
The conversation then turns to the FiberTak SpeedBridge, which incorporates smaller all-suture anchors in the medial row.
There are several potential advantages:
Smaller drill holes and reduced bone removal
Preservation of greater tuberosity bone stock
Potential advantages in revision surgery
Additional fixation points with less disruption of the footprint
Strong fixation and straightforward tensioning
Increased flexibility when treating complex tear patterns
The smaller 2.6-mm FiberTak RC anchor may allow surgeons to maximize fixation while minimizing disruption of the tuberosity footprint.
Tensionable Knotless Anchors and Delaminated Tears
One of the challenges in rotator cuff surgery is that many tears are not simply a single layer of retracted tendon. In delaminated tears, the articular and bursal layers may retract differently.
The team discuss how independently tensionable knotless medial-row anchors allow surgeons to:
Evaluate the entire repair before final tensioning
Independently tension individual limbs
Better reduce different layers of the tendon
Improve control of tissue reduction
Avoid simply forcing multiple layers into one fixed position
The conversation also explores the role of a medial pulley rip-stop, which can distribute forces across a larger area of tendon and potentially decrease suture cut-through in compromised tissue.
The Rotator Cuff Healing Index
The discussion includes the Rotator Cuff Healing Index (RoHI), a scoring system designed to predict the likelihood of healing following rotator cuff repair.
The guests discuss how risk stratification can help surgeons determine when the additional cost and complexity of augmentation may be justified.
Biceps Smash: Turning the Long Head of the Biceps Into an Autograft
One of the most fascinating concepts discussed is the use of the long head of the biceps tendon as an autologous scaffold for rotator cuff augmentation.
Dr. Tokish discusses the development of the Biceps Smash, in which the harvested proximal long head of the biceps tendon is compressed into a flattened graft that can be incorporated into the rotator cuff repair.
Potential advantages include:
Readily available autologous tissue
No additional donor-site morbidity
No immunologic concerns associated with allograft tissue
Highly organized parallel collagen architecture
Potential biologic activity from viable tenocytes
Dermal Allograft and Other Scaffold Options
The conversation then expands to other augmentation strategies- The guests discuss the differences between structural support and biologic integration, as well as the importance of understanding how different scaffold materials interact with the host tissue.
Dermal allograft has accumulated substantial clinical evidence supporting its use in selected rotator cuff repairs, particularly larger and higher-risk tears.
The discussion also addresses concerns surrounding xenograft and synthetic materials, including inflammatory and foreign-body responses.
CuffMend: Simplifying Dermal Allograft Augmentation
For surgeons who elect to augment a repair with dermal allograft, the procedure itself can add complexity and operative time.
The CuffMend system is designed to streamline graft handling and delivery.
The guests also discuss SpeedFlex, which uses pre-sized and pre-sutured ArthroFlex grafts.
Available graft configurations include:
20 × 25 mm and 25 × 30 mm
1-mm and 2-mm thicknesses
Rather than requiring surgeons to prepare and load the graft intraoperatively, the pre-sutured configuration is designed to streamline preparation and reduce variability.
FiberStitch RC Simple
Another innovation discussed is the FiberStitch RC Simple implant for medial graft fixation.
This episode of The Sports Docs Podcast was sponsored by Arthrex.
