Effect of laceration and trimming of a tendon on the coefficient of friction along the A2 pulley: AN IN VITRO STUDY ON TURKEY TENDON

• Published in: Journal of bone and joint surgery. British volume Vol. 92; no. 8; pp. 1171 - 1175
• Main Authors: HAJIPOUR, L, GULIHAR, A, DIAS, J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London British Editorial Society of Bone and Joint Surgery 01.08.2010
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Disease Models, Animal; Diseases of the osteoarticular system; Friction; Lacerations - physiopathology; Lacerations - surgery; Medical sciences; Orthopedic surgery; Stress, Mechanical; Surgery (general aspects). Transplantations, organ and tissue grafts. Graft diseases; Tendon Injuries - physiopathology; Tendon Injuries - rehabilitation; Tendon Injuries - surgery; Turkeys; Weight-Bearing; Asia; Turkey; Laceration; Orthopedic surgery; Treatment; Friction; In vitro; Tendon
• ISSN: 0301-620X; 2044-5377
• DOI: 10.1302/0301-620X.92B8.23309

We carried out lacerations of 50%, followed by trimming, in ten turkey flexor tendons in vitro and measured the coefficient of friction at the tendon-pulley interface with loads of 200 g and 400 g and in 10 degrees , 30 degrees, 50 degrees and 70 degrees of flexion. Laceration increased the coefficient of friction from 0.12 for the intact tendon to 0.3 at both the test loads. Trimming the laceration reduced the coefficient of friction to 0.2. An exponential increase in the gliding resistance was found at 50 degrees and 70 degrees of flexion (p = 0.02 and p = 0.003, respectively) following trimming compared to that of the intact tendon. We concluded that trimming partially lacerated flexor tendons will reduce the gliding resistance at the tendon-pulley interface, but will lead to fragmentation and triggering of the tendon at higher degrees of flexion and loading. We recommend that higher degrees of flexion be avoided during early post-operative rehabilitation following trimming of a flexor tendon.