Tendon properties remain altered in a chronic rat rotator cuff model.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Chronic rotator cuff tears are often associated with pain or poor function. In a rat with only a detached supraspinatus tendon, the tendon heals spontaneously which is inconsistent with how tears are believed to heal in humans.

Questions/purposes

We therefore asked whether a combined supraspinatus and infraspinatus detachment in the rat would fail to heal and result in a chronic injury in the supraspinatus tendon.

Methods

We acutely detached the supraspinatus and infraspinatus tendons in a rat model. At 4, 8, and 16 weeks post-detachment, biomechanical testing, collagen organization, and histological grading were evaluated for the detached supraspinatus and infraspinatus tendons and compared to controls.

Results

In the detached supraspinatus tendon,

SUBMITTER: Dourte LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2865621 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature