Rupture of tendons due to either high load or laceration is a common injury, especially for the hand. Tendon disorders are traditionally treated by reducing inflammation, restoring flexibility, and, if necessary, performing surgical repair. It has been estimated that hand surgeons repair nearly one-third of a million digital flexor tendon injuries per year in the United States. Despite the fact...

BACKGROUND Two main factors determine the strength of tendon repair; the tensile strength of material and the gripping capacity of a suture configuration. Different repair techniques and suture materials were developed to increase the strength of repairs but none of techniques and suture materials seem to provide enough tensile strength with safety margins for early active mobilization. In orde...

The long tendons of the limb extend from muscles that reside in the zeugopod (arm/leg) to their skeletal insertions in the autopod (paw). How these connections are established along the length of the limb remains unknown. Here, we show that mouse limb tendons are formed inmodular units that combine to forma functional contiguous structure; inmuscle-less limbs, tendonsdevelop in the autopodbut d...

The lubricating ability of human synoviocyte lubricin and bovine lubricin purified from synovial fluid was investigated and compared using a canine in vitro tendon model. Our null hypothesis was that these two forms of lubricin would have equal lubricating ability. Forty two canine hind-limbs were used. The peroneus longus (PL) tendons were harvested, along with the proximal phalanx and flexor ...

Improved understanding of the role of inflammation in tendon disease is required to facilitate therapeutic target discovery. We studied supraspinatus tendons from patients experiencing pain before and after surgical subacromial decompression treatment. Tendons were classified as having early, intermediate, or advanced disease, and inflammation was characterized through activation of pathways me...

Acute peroneal tendon subluxation and dislocation are frequently misdiagnosed as ankle sprains. The most common mechanism is a dorsifl exory force on the ankle associated with a rapid and strong contraction of the peroneal tendons and with an eversion of the hindfoot. Inadequate treatment may lead to chronic dislocation. In chronic situation patients frequently complain about a painful wind gla...

BACKGROUND Topical 5-fluorouracil has been reported to reduce adhesions in animal models of tenolysis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of topical 5-fluorouracil on adhesion formation after tendon repairs were subjected to immediate postoperative rehabilitation in a canine model in vivo. METHODS Sixty dogs were randomly assigned to either a 5-fluorouracil treatment (th...

It has been shown that 12 weeks of eccentric heavy resistance training can reduce pain in runners suffering from chronic Achilles tendinosis, but the mechanism behind the effectiveness of this treatment is unknown. The present study investigates the local effect of an eccentric training regime on elite soccer players suffering from chronic Achilles tendinosis on the turnover of the peritendinou...

The functional integrity of the musculoskeletal system requires precise and elaborate attachment of muscles to their respective skeletal elements in order for the force generated during muscle contraction to be transmitted faithfully to the skeleton. The collagen-rich muscle attachments range from narrow bands of connective tissue in some axial muscles to the long limb tendons (Benjamin and Ral...

In vertebrates, limb tendons are derived from cells that migrate from the lateral plate mesoderm during early development. While some of the developmental steps leading to the formation of these tissues are known, little is known about the molecular mechanisms controlling them. We have identified two murine homeobox-containing genes, Six 1 and Six 2, which are expressed in a complementary fashi...