Flexor Tendon Repair Techniques: M-Tang Repair.

Hand Clin · May 2023 · Review

Tang JB, Pan ZJ, Munz G, Besmens IS, Harhaus L

Department of Hand, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Burn Center, Germany

Hand & Upper Extremity

SUMMARY — THE REDUCTIONMulti-institution experience shows M-Tang zone 2 flexor tendon repair with early active motion yields 80-90% good/excellent results and near-zero rupture rates, though rupture rose slightly during the pandemic due to less supervised therapy.
Abstract, as published

The authors present the methods and outcomes from six institutes where M-Tang repairs with early active flexion exercise are used for zone 2 digital flexor tendon repair. The authors had close to zero repair ruptures, and few digits needed tenolysis. The excellent to good results are generally between 80% and 90%. In the pandemic period, less stringent therapy supervision might have allowed some patients to move too aggressively, with repair ruptures not seen before the pandemic in one institute. In Nantong, Yixing, and Saint John, the rupture incidence is zero to 1%. In Florence and Heidelberg, the rupture incidence was 3%.

Featured in the 2026-08-13 issue.

← Optimizing the Virtual Interview Experience for Hand Surgery …Wrist and Forearm Fractures from Ballistic Injuries. →

The Reduction is a free email digest of newly published orthopaedic literature — a handful of new papers in the subspecialties you choose, each summarized like this one. Subscribe free or browse the archive.