[...]... between 1) tendons, e.g the tibial intertendinous bursae at the insertions of the tendons of sartorius, gracilis, and semitendinosus; 2) tendons and aponeurosis, e.g the gluteus maximus and aponeurosis of vastus lateralis; 3) tendons and bone; 4) deep infrapatellar bursae, e.g the ligamentum patellae and tibial tuberosity, subacromial bursa, and retrocalcaneal bursa The olecranon bursa and the superficial... thinner, and are found proximally; the brevia are shorter, and are found at the insertions of the tendons The lining of the sheath is extremely cellular and vascular It secretes synovial fluid, and reacts to inflammation by cellular proliferation and the formation of more fluid This may result in adhesions and restriction of movement between the two layers Bursae are associated with many tendons and help... attachments of the long flexor tendons The Achilles tendon is supplied at its musculotendinous junction, along the length of the tendon, and at its junction with bone The blood supply consists mainly of longitudinal arteries that course the length of the tendon The area of lowest vascularity is 2 to 6 cm above the insertion of the tendon The Achilles tendon is the thickest and the strongest tendon It is approximately... vascularity and a common site of tendon ailments [28–30] Structure of Tendons Tendons appear white, as they are relatively avascular A tendon is a roughly uniaxial composite, composed mainly of Type I collagen in an extracellular matrix composed mainly of mucopolysaccharides and a proteoglycan gel [31] Tendons consist of 30% collagen and 2% elastin embedded in an extracellular matrix containing 68% water and. .. (MPa) by normalization to the tendon cross-sectional area, and tendon deformation is reduced to strain (%) by normalization to the tendon original length The tendon stress-strain curve is similar in shape to the force-deformation curve, but it 2 Mechanical Properties of Tendons 15 load cell clamp tendon specimen clamp displacement If a tendon is subjected to a tensile load, the tendon does not behave perfectly... contractions of the tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius tendons generate tendon loads within the toe region, and are therefore unlikely to tear the tendon in a single pull Further tensile measurements with reference landmarks chosen along the aponeurotic part of the tibialis anterior tendon showed that A) the entire aponeurosis strains almost 3 times as much as the tendon and B) the aponeurosis’s strain... (1989) Muscle and tendon: properties, models, scaling, and application to biomechanics and motor control CRC Crit Rev Biomed Eng 17:359–411 70 Cavagna GA (1977) Storage and utilization of elastic energy in skeletal muscle Exerc Sports Sci Rev 5:89–129 71 Alexander RMcN (1988) Elastic Mechanisms in Animal Movement Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press 3 Growth and Development of Tendons Laurence... system [6] The tendon is subjected to early degenerative changes, since both the collagen and noncollagenous matrix components of tendons show qualitative and quantitative changes There are also many cellular and vascular changes within the aging tendon However, in adults, studies have not found a clear correlation between macroscopic tendon characteristics, such as thickness and surface area, and age [7,8]... joint and at the proximal interphalangeal joint, possibly resulting from the mechanical forces exerted at these zones [27] The long flexor tendons are supplied by two main sources: primarily by small arteries that run in the vincula longa and brevia and reach the dorsal surface of the tendon; and secondarily by small intrinsic longitudinal vessels that run parallel to the collagen fibers of the tendon and. .. layer surrounds the tendon, and the parietal is attached to the adjacent connective tissues As a tendon invaginates into the sheath, there is often a mesotendon Figure 1-6 Extensor retinaculum of wrist 6 Synovial folds in the fibro-osseous sheaths of the phalanges of the hand and foot are called the vincula longa and vincula brevia They contain the blood vessels that supply the flexor tendons inside the . University of Health Sciences, F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA Editors Tendon Injuries Basic Science and Clinical Medicine With 187. Health Sciences F. Edward Herbert School of Medicine Bethesda, MD, USA British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Tendon injuries : basic science and clinical