Tendon injuries

Abstract

Fresh rupture or degenerative damage to large tendons is a clinical entity that is becoming increasingly common. This can be attributed to an increase in sport activity among older people in particular, but also to improved diagnosis and a greater degree of exposure of the systems that transfer muscle power to injury in professional life or in road traffic accidents. Substantial loss of function can result if the smaller tendons in the hand, for example, are severed as a result of direct blunt trauma, or torn as a result of indirect injury mechanisms. Spontaneous tendon ruptures based on the indirect effects of force are often caused by more than one factor.