In Brief Intrinsic healing of severed tendons shows a delay in a gain in breaking strength and the tendon becomes translucent. The cause of tendon translucence was investigated in suture-repaired rat Achilles tendon. The repair site with adjacent translucent tendon were evaluated histologically on day 10 by immunofluorescence and transmission electron microscopy. The healing tendon translucent region by hematoxylin–eosin staining had few inflammatory cells, polarized light birefringence showed thinner collagen fibers, immunofluorescence showed few myofibroblasts, and transmission electron microscopy revealed frayed, irregular thin collagen fibers. During embryogenesis, tendon fibers grow by the addition of discreet collagen fibril segment structures. The speculation is that collagen fibril segment structures are released from collagen fibers within the translucent tendon region for reuse during the regeneration of tendon collagen fibers during intrinsic tendon repair. Healing tendon translucence is related to a decrease in the diameter of collagen fibers by the release of collagen fibril segments within tendon bundles/fascicles. In a rat Achilles tendon model the translucent area of the repair was evaluated on day 10 with immuno-fluorescence and transmission electron microscopy. It appeared that the translucent region was composed of newly released collagen fibril segments in the process of regeneration.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Ehrlich et al. (2005) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: