Sebastian Andreas Muller
Due to their specific morphologic structure, tendons are the soft tissue with the highest tensile strength, needed to transfer muscle power to the skeletal system. In case of tendon injury, such as traumatic tendon tears, chronic overuse of tendons, or degenerative tendinopathy, function and motion are impaired. However, repaired tendon tissue rarely achieves functionality equal to that of the pre-injured state, whereas final tear resistance may be reduced by up to 30%. The fact that tendons often tear upon an underlying tendinopathy as a precondition, is considered rather rarely for research and treatment of patients with acute tendon injuries. For optimal treatment, enhanced understanding of tendon physiology, degenerative pathology, and healing processes in ruptured tendons is necessary. Due to their similar structure, healing of ligaments is usually compared and subsumed to tendon healing.
