屏障材料预防肌腱粘连的研究进展

肌腱与腱周组织粘连是肌腱损伤修复术后最主要的并发症,使用屏障材料预防肌腱粘连是一种最直接有效的方法。传统使用的不可吸收材料常常会导致严重免疫反应或阻隔肌腱营养而导致肌腱愈合不良,且常需二次手术取出,已基本淘汰。可吸收膜和水凝胶等具有良好通透性及组织相容性的可吸收大分子材料是目前研究的重点。使用自体或异体组织材料重建腱鞘也可预防肌腱粘连,但自体组织重建腱鞘损伤较大且手术复杂,异体组织常常受到安全性、伦理学等诸多限制,而组织工程化腱鞘可能是未来预防肌腱粘连的一个重要研究方向。     

防止肌腱粘连及促进其愈合的研究进展

随着对肌腱愈合研究的不断深入和发展,预防肌腱粘连以及促进其愈合的方法越来越多。通过改进缝合方法、修复腱鞘或采用替代品、置入药物或药物薄膜及早期康复等治疗来有效预防肌腱粘连;通过重建腱鞘、药物、生长因子、基因干预等促进肌腱愈合。本文就近年来防止肌腱粘连及促进其愈合方面的研究予以综述。     

组织工程化肌腱研究进展

肌腱损伤常发生在日常的工作和运动中,世界范围内每年有超过3000万人肌腱损伤。目前,尽管临床上对于肌腱损伤可以采取非手术、手术和康复等多种手段进行治疗,但这些传统治疗手段的效果均差强人意。修复后的肌腱很难恢复到损伤前的功能状态。肌腱损伤的治疗也成了运动医学研究的重点。随着组织工程技术的发展,组织工程化肌腱为解决这一难题提供思路。其与传统的肌腱损伤的治疗手段相比,不再有自体供区功能缺失,及异体移植肌腱的排异等问题。     

不同移植物对兔前叉韧带重建术后血运变化的影响

目的：比较自体和同种异体半肌腱重建兔前叉韧带对血管生成的影响。方法：选择48 只骨骼发育成熟的新西兰种属兔作为 研究对象,将其随机分为自体组(A 组)和异体组(B 组),每组24 只,分别接受半肌腱重建前叉韧带手术。从手术日期开始,分别记 录手术后第3 周、第6 周、第12 周和第24 周重建韧带的血管生成情况同时对血管生成数量进行定量。结果：手术后两组实验兔 关节均无肿胀,关节囊无炎性反应发生。在手术后第3 周,两组血管生成无明显差异(P>0.05);术后第6 周和第12周,自体移植组 新生血管数量明显高于异体移植组(P<0.05);术后第24 周,异体组新生血管数量明显高于自体组(P<0.05)。结论：在兔前叉韧带的 重建过程中,异体移植物重建的血管生成速度和数量明显慢于自体移植物,提示在临床上选择自体移植物对术后恢复更理想.     

人工韧带

人工韧带是利用生物或非生物材料经加工制作而成的韧带替代物,可用于修复人或动物机体由于各种原因造成的韧带损伤或缺损;也可用于替代某些损伤的肌腱。从人工韧带出现以来,人们曾试用过多种材料,目前较常用于制作人工韧带的材料有:碳素纤维、绦纶、聚四氟乙烯及小牛肌腱制品等。根据不同需要,可做成具有不同形状、强度和柔韧性的人工韧带。与传统的用自体组织替代物修复损伤韧带的方法相比,人工韧带具有高强度、高弹性模量、手术损伤小、操作     

肌腱组织工程研究进展

随着人口的年龄和预期寿命的增加,尤其是在年轻的人群中,肌腱损伤将变得更加普遍。传统的肌腱修复方法有许多不足之处,其功能重建不能令人满意。组织工程是一个发展的领域,组织工程肌腱体外的构建和体内的应用技术逐渐成熟,为临床上治疗肌腱缺损提供了一种不需要自体肌腱移植而且更加有前景的途径。在肌腱组织工程的研究中所面临的挑战和未来的发展方向为:种子细胞,新型支架材料和力学刺激。近年来肌腱干细胞的发现为种子细胞的选择提供了新思路,力学刺激对组织工程肌腱的影响也逐渐成为热点。本文就组织工程肌腱研究中种子细胞、支架材料和力学刺激的进展做一综述,并对未来的发展进行展望。     

膝关节镜下交叉韧带重建术的手术配合

膝关节镜下交叉韧带重建术是利用膝关节镜直视下行半腱肌和半膜肌肌腱自体移植重建交叉韧带的一种安全有效的手术方法.由于膝关节交叉韧带损伤后易引起关节不稳定等症状,若时间长,易导致关节内软骨损伤,半月板损伤及其他严重后果,给患者带来严重的生活、工作障碍[1].     

组织工程的基本科学问题

疾病和创伤引起的组织、器官的缺损或功能障碍是人类健康所面临的主要危害之一,也是导致人类死亡的最主要原因。如何克服自体或异体组织、器官移植中存在的“以创伤修复创伤”、供体来源不足等缺陷,从根本上解决组织、器官缺损修复和功能重建等问题,己成为生命科学领域的国际性前沿课题。组织工程的提出、建立和发展,为解决这一问题提供了新的策略,     

组织工程的主要产品与应用

与传统的自体或异体组织、器官移植相比,组织工程克服了“以创伤修复创伤”、供体来源不足等缺陷,将从根本上解决组织、器官缺损的修复和功能重建等问题,具有良好的发展前景和广阔的应用市场。     

影响腱-骨愈合因素的研究新进展

随着运动爱好者逐渐增多,运动带来的膝关节损伤也与日俱增。前交叉韧带断裂是常见的膝关节运动损伤,目前手术是其主要治疗方法,术中取自体肌腱编制成韧带重建前交叉韧带(Anterior Cruciate Ligament,ACL)。因此,肌腱与骨的愈合直接影响着手术效果。那么,如何加速肌腱与骨的愈合是关节外科医生最关心的问题。近年来研究发现,多种因素可通过改变腱骨结合面的局部微环境对腱-骨愈合起到抑制或促进作用。其中,增强相关生长因子活性、加入自体骨膜、运用中药治疗等措施可加快腱-骨愈合;关节液等不利因素可减慢腱-骨愈合。因此,合理增加有利因素,减少不利因素可缩短愈合周期,加速术后康复,进而提高手术效果。本文就目前影响腱骨愈合因素的最新进展作一综述。     

Determination of biomechanical characteristics of restrictive adhesions and of functional impairment after flexor tendon surgery: a methodological study of rabbits.

Formation of restrictive adhesions is one of the main obstacles in rehabilitation following hand surgery. Most experimental work, however, involves only a macroscopic and/or histologic evaluation of the amount of adhesions, and their functional characteristics are poorly described. The aim of this study was to develop an experimental technique for characterization of the biomechanical properties of the finger-tendon unit. An instrument was developed for continuous and simultaneous recording of tensile load, tendon excursion and angular rotation in the distal interphalangeal joint of rabbit digits. Utilizing this instrument, it was revealed that the first 50 degrees of flexion required virtually no tensile load either in unoperated digits or immediately after tenorrhaphy. Thereafter, the load required to obtain further flexion was progressively increased. The strength of adhesions, determined 2 weeks after tenorrhaphy, was best expressed as the maximum tensile load recorded before 50 degrees of flexion was reached. This measurement could also be used to register the strength of the tendon repair and to detect partial tendon rupture during the measurement. The technique allows both adequate measurements of the strength of the adhesions and of the tendon gliding ability after flexor tendon surgery.     

Regeneration of rabbit calcaneal tendon

Summary The regenerated tissue which fills the gap between the stumps of sectioned and unsutured rabbit calcaneal tendon was studied by immuno-fluorescence, light and electron microscopy from 2 days to 30 weeks after surgery. In the early stages, the newly formed tissue consisted of few connective tissue cells of variable shape dispersed in an abundant intercellular matrix. At 7 days after tenotomy most of the cells were spindle shaped and arranged along the major tendon axis. They showed a well developed rough endoplasmic reticulum, a prominent Golgi complex and bundles of thin and thick filaments. Moreover, they appeared intensely stained when treated with anti-actin and anti-myosin sera. The bulk of the intercellular matrix consisted of bundles of collagen fibers, mostly arranged parallel to the cells.In the subsequent stages the regenerating tissue became more compact, acquiring the morphological characteristics of tendon tissue. At 30 weeks after tenotomy, however, it did not show yet the typical texture of the normal adult tendon. The tenocytes were more numerous and less uniformly distributed, and contained a greater amount of ergastoplasm and contractile proteins. The collagen fibers were similar in size to those of the neonatal normal tendon and the elastic fibers appeared often immature.These findings suggest that, at least on the experimental conditions under which this study was performed, the regenerated tendon does not acquire the typical morphology of the normal adult tendon, possibly owing to the reduced mechanical stress acting on it.     

Kinetic analysis of canine gait on the effect of failure tendon repair and tendon graft

Kinetic analysis of canine gait has been extensively studied, including normal and abnormal gait. However, no research has looked into how flexor tendon injury and further treatment would affect the walking pattern comparing to the uninjured state. Therefore, this study was aimed to utilize a portable pressure walkway system, which has been commonly used for pedobarographic and kinetic analysis in the veterinary field, to examine the effect of a failed tendon repair and tendon graft reconstruction on canine digit kinetics during gait. 12 mixed breed (mongrel) hound-type female dogs were included in this study and 2^nd and 5^th digits were chosen to undergo flexor tendon repair and graft surgeries. Kinetic parameters from the surgery leg in stance phase were calculated. From the results, after tendon failure repair, decrease of weight bearing was seen in the affected digits and weight bearing was shifted to the metacarpal pad. After tendon graft reconstruction, weight bearing returned to the affected digits and metacarpal pads. Slight alteration in peak pressure and instant of peak force were identified, but it was estimated to have little influence on post-reconstruction gait. This study could serve as a reference in evaluating canine digit function in flexor tendon injury for future studies.     

Ocular fixation with quadriceps tendon allograft

Management of difficult strabismus, such as strabismus fixus and paralytic strabismus, in order to maintain the alignment is complicated. There are many surgical approaches described in the current literature, together with notes on the materials used to stabilize these deformities. We present a new surgical approach using quadriceps tendon allograft for the correction of difficult strabismus such as strabismus fixus and paralytic strabismus. Our idea for using deep frozen quadriceps tendons developed from the fact that this is the most stable and strongest tendon in the whole body. Six patients with strabismus fixus (n = 1), paralytic strabismus secondary to extraocular muscle damage (n = 1) and combined cranial nerve palsy (n = 4) were operated on using a strip of deep frozen quadriceps tendon allograft suturedonto both the globe and the periosteum. The mean age of the patients was 44.33years. (range 17–71 years) All the patients were followed up for six months. The mean preoperative deviation in the six cases was 60 prism diopters(PD) (range 30–123 PD) The mean change in horizontal alignment at 1 month, 3 months and 6 months postoperatively was 54PD, 53 PD and 49.16 PD respectively. We had only one case of under correction. This may possible be due to the remaining function of the antagonist and/or the fact that we had used the distal end of the quadriceps tendon. When the patient (patient No. 5) who had 2 operations was excluded, the mean change in horizontal alignment was 48.6 PD,47.4PD and 43.6 PD. Post-operatively there was no infection or any other complications. According to our study of existing literature, these cases of deep frozen quadriceps tendon allograft application for the indications mentioned above are the first reported cases of its type. We conclude that ocular fixation with quadriceps tendon to the periosteum is a safe and effective option for the management of difficult strabismus. Further research on a larger cohort of patients and longer follow-up time are needed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The use of 2D ultrasound elastography for measuring tendon motion and strain

The goal of the current study was to investigate the fidelity of a 2D ultrasound elastography method for the measurement of tendon motion and strain. Ultrasound phantoms and ex vivo porcine flexor tendons were cyclically stretched to 4% strain while cine ultrasound radiofrequency (RF) data and video data were simultaneously collected. 2D ultrasound elastography was used to estimate tissue motion and strain from RF data, and surface tissue motion and strain were separately estimated using digital image correlation (DIC). There were strong correlations (R²>0.97) between DIC and RF measurements of phantom displacement and strain, and good agreement in estimates of peak phantom strain (DIC: 3.5±0.2%; RF: 3.7±0.1%). For tendon, elastographic estimates of displacement profiles also correlated well with DIC measurements (R²>0.92), and exhibited similar estimated peak tendon strain (DIC: 2.6±1.4%; RF: 2.2±1.3%). Elastographic tracking with B-Mode images tended to under-predict peak strain for both the phantom and tendon. This study demonstrates the capacity to use quantitative elastographic techniques to measure tendon displacement and strain within an ultrasound image window. The approach may be extendible to in vivo use on humans, which would allow for the non-invasive analysis of tendon deformation in both normal and pathological states.     

Identification, content, and distribution of type VI collagen in bovine tendons

Tendon composition changes according to differentiation, mechanical load, and aging. In this study, we attempted to identify, localize, and quantify type VI collagen in bovine tendons. Type VI collagen was identified by the electrophoretic behavior of the alpha chains and Western blotting, and by rotary shadowing. Type VI collagen was extracted from powdered tendon with three sequential 24-h extractions with 4 M guanidine-HCl. The amount of type VI collagen was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for purely tensional areas and for the compressive fibrocartilage regions of the deep flexor tendon of the digits, for the corresponding fetal and calf tendons, and for the extensor digital tendon. The distal fibrocartilaginous region of the adult tendon was richer in type VI collagen than the tensional area, reaching as much as 3.3 mg/g (0.33%) of the wet weight. Calf tendons showed an accumulation of type VI at the fibrocartilage site. Immunocytochemistry demonstrated that type VI collagen was evenly distributed in the tensional areas of tendons but was highly concentrated around the fibrochondrocytes in the fibrocartilages. The results demonstrate that tendons are variable with regard to the presence and distribution of type VI collagen. The early accumulation of type VI collagen in the region of calf tendon that will become fibrocartilage in the adult suggests that it is a good marker of fibrocartilage differentiation. Furthermore, the distribution of type VI collagen in tendon fibrocartilage indicates that it organizes the pericellular environment and may represent a survival factor for these cells.     

The influence of an elastic tendon on the force producing capabilities of a muscle during dynamic movements

With increasing computer power, computer simulation of human movement has become a popular research tool. However, time to complete simulations can still be long even on powerful computers. One possibility for reducing simulation time, with models of musculo-skeletal system, is to simulate the muscle using a rigid tendon rather than the more realistic compliant tendon. This study examines the effect of tendon elasticity on muscle force output under different dynamic conditions. A single muscle, point mass model was used and simulations were performed varying the mass, the tendon length, the initial position, and the task. For simulations for relatively slow motion, as experienced for example in upper limb reaching motions or rising from a chair, tendon properties had little influence on muscle force, in contrast simulations of an explosive task similar to jumping or throwing tendon had a much larger effect.