Paragraph Number

109

Referring to FIG. 26, a tube 370 is placed over the distal ends of the suture strands of the suture anchor 100 of FIG. 24. Optionally, the tube may be a dual lumen tube so that each pair of suture strands passes through a separate lumen in the tube further isolating the first and second pairs from one another. Preferably, the tube 370 is frangible so that it may be torn from the sutures. For example, a thin walled tube 370 may be torn along its length to split the tube and remove it laterally away from the sutures. One or more starter notches may be formed in the sidewall at one or both ends to facilitate tearing the tube. The proximal ends 312, 313, 322, 323 of the first and second suture pairs are passed through the first slot 340. The proximal ends 312, 313 of the first suture pair is passed through the distal most hole 354 of the first pair of holes and then through the proximal most hole 352 of the first pair of holes. The proximal ends 322, 323 of the second suture pair is passed through the distal most hole 356 of the second pair of holes and then through the proximal most hole 358 of the second pair of holes. The proximal ends 312, 313, 322, 323 are all tied together to join them to the suture keeper 300 (FIG. 27). Thus joined, the suture keeper prevents the proximal ends from being pulled back into the suture anchor 100. The suture anchor 100 is mounted on the suture keeper 300 by bending the proximal and distal tabs 342, 348 upwardly and inserting the suture anchor 100 into the first slot 340 between the tabs with the proximal tab 342 pressing against the proximal end 152 of the proximal member 104 and the distal tab 348 pressing against the distal end 110 of the anchor body 102 to releasably hold the suture anchor 100. The first pair of suture strands 310, 311 is positioned in the first distal notch 364 and the second pair of suture strands 320, 321 is positioned in the second distal notch 366.

Added by DJM 9 2021