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July 01, 2012
Contributors: Yung Han, MD; Seung-Ho Kim, MD; Seung-Ho Kim, MD
Knot tying is crucial to arthroscopic surgery, and the SMC knot deserves special attention because of its internal locking mechanism, because it has a low profile within the joint or subacromial space, and because it is simple to master and easy to remember. It is this mechanism that prevents the initial reverse slippage before the additional half-hitch throws lock the knot in place. Seung-Ho Kim, MD, demonstrates the SMC knot, showing how the internal locking mechanism flips the post strand by pulling the loop strand, which then converts the loop strand into a new post strand within the initial slip knot. The result is locking of the initial slipknot in situ-without leaving a time or chance to be loose during the additional locking half-hitches.