Isolated tears of the sternocostal head of the pectoralis major muscle: surgical technique, clinical outcomes, and a modification of the Tietjen and Bak classification

Hypothesis: We aimed to describe a modified surgical technique to treat isolated sternocostal head tears using cortical button fixation while preserving the intact clavicular head tendon, to outline a new classification of pectoralis major injuries, and to present the clinical outcomes and return-to-sport data of a cohort of 21 athletes who underwent surgical repair.

Methods: We reviewed prospectively collected data of patients who underwent surgical repair with the described technique for isolated sternocostal head tears from 2008 to 2014. Two-year postoperative clinical outcomes including the Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation score, isokinetic strength, patient satisfaction, and return to sport, as well as preinjury and postoperative bench-press weight, were collected, and descriptive statistics were used for analysis.

Results: Twenty-one patients who underwent repair of isolated sternocostal head tears were included. The majority of the isolated tears of the sternocostal head of the pectoralis major (57%) occurred during the bench press. Of the ruptures, 81% were Tietjen type IIIC and 19% were type IIID. Postoperative Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation scores averaged 90.1 (standard deviation, 8.4), and patient satisfaction was 9.5 of 10 (standard deviation, 0.9). All athletes returned to sport approximately 5.5 months postoperatively. The isokinetic strength deficit averaged 8% compared with the contralateral arm, whereas the average preinjury bench-press weight of 134 kg (range 88-227 kg) was restored to 117 kg (range 61-250 kg) postoperatively.

Conclusion: We propose a new classification of pectoralis major injury. In addition, we present a biomechanically sound repair technique for isolated tears of the sternocostal head of the pectoralis with favorable outcomes. The technique takes the specific anatomy of the sternocostal and clavicular heads into account for the approach.