My recollection is the doc used the "needle" to excise/cut the dead tissue inside the tendon. I think of them as strands inside a cable such as the cables that hold up bridges or cables on bicycle brakes. He injects some form of pain deadener to reduce the pain of a long needle probing. During this procedure he's observing the trajectory of the needle and the dead tissue via Ultrasound. In essence, he is leaving a void where there was once tendon and hopes that my aging body will heal. After my next visit which is in 2 weeks, I will ask what chemicals he is injecting to reduce the pain. IMO, had the surgeon taken the time to move the tendon aside, I wouldn't be having this problem.

Before I had the TKR in my right knee, I tried cortisone in both knees which afforded relief for +/- 3 months. Subsequent shots didn't last as long. On my left knee, which suffers from arthritis and excess racquetball during my younger years, I'm trying Hyaluronic Acid. Thus far it's 2 months old and still working but the greatest amount of relief (for me) has been weight loss. Hope my info helps.