Tendons are soft connective tissues, which connect muscle to bone forming a musculotendinous unit, whose primary function is to transmit tensile loads generated by muscles to move and enhance joints stability. Adult tendons have relatively low oxygen and nutrient requirements, low cell density, and poor regenerative capacity. The biomechanical properties of tendons are mainly attributed to the ...

Healing canine flexor tendons treated with either total immobilization, delayed protected mobilization, or early protected mobilization was studied by biomechanical, microangiographic, biochemical, and histologic techniques at intervals through 12 weeks. The healing characteristics of the early mobilization tendons showed higher tensile strengths and improved gliding function than the delayed m...

INTRODUCTION Aging leads to a decline in the functional competence of human bodies as well as to degenerative changes in connective tissues such as tendons. Aging tendons lose the integrity of their matrix and mechanical strength. However, the precise cellular mechanisms responsible for the detrimental effects of aging on tendons are unknown. We recently identified tendon stem cells (TSCs) in r...

OBJECTIVES To investigate the prevalence of calcium phosphate mineral salt accumulation in degenerative supraspinatus 'tendinitis' compared with a normal sample of human tendons, and to determine whether there is an association of calcium salt deposition with pathological changes in the tendon extracellular matrix. METHODS Cadaver tendons (supraspinatus and common biceps tendons, n = 96) and ...

Achilles tenotomy is a recognised step in the Ponseti technique for the correction of idiopathic congenital talipes equinovarus in most percutaneous cases. Its use has been limited in part by concern that the subsequent natural history of the tendon is unknown. In a study of 11 tendons in eight infants, eight tendons were shown to be clinically intact and ten had ultrasonographic evidence of co...

PRP is widely used to treat tendon and other tissue injuries in orthopaedics and sports medicine; however, the efficacy of PRP treatment on injured tendons is highly controversial. In this commentary, I reason that there are many PRP- and patient-related factors that influence the outcomes of PRP treatment on injured tendons. Therefore, more basic science studies are needed to understand the me...

Mohawk (Mkx) is a member of the Three Amino acid Loop Extension superclass of atypical homeobox genes that is expressed in developing tendons. To investigate the in vivo functions of Mkx, we generated Mkx(-/-) mice. These mice had hypoplastic tendons throughout the body. Despite the reduction in tendon mass, the cell number in tail tendon fiber bundles was similar between wild-type and Mkx(-/-)...

Bilateral rupture of the patellar tendons is a rare lesion, usually associated with systemic diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic renal failure and others. It is extremely rare in a healthy individual, with fewer than 15 cases described. A case of a 32-year-old male with no known history of systemic disease or knee problems is presented. Physical examinat...

CONTEXT A passive knee-extension test has been shown to be a reliable method of assessing hamstring tightness, but this method does not take into account the potential effect of gravity on the tested leg. OBJECTIVE To compare an original passive knee-extension test with 2 adapted methods including gravity's effect on the lower leg. DESIGN Repeated measures. SETTING Laboratory. PARTICIPA...