Original CommunicationsThe influence of cross-sectional area on the tensile properties of flexor tendons*,**
Section snippets
Measurement of cross-sectional dimension
Fifty tendons from 10 fresh-frozen cadaver hands were used. After thawing flexor digitorum profundus and flexor pollicis longus tendons were dissected distally at the insertion site and proximally to the musculotendinous junction. Before excision the tendons were marked at the distal edge of the A2 pulley with the digits in full extension. Width and height of the tendons were measured with digital calipers. These measurements were used to compute tendon cross-sectional area based on an
Results
ANOVA testing indicated that tendon dorsovolar height and cross-sectional area estimated with an elliptical approximation varied significantly between digits (p <.001). There was a 38% difference between mean values of height for the largest (middle finger) and the smallest (little finger) digits and a 42% difference in cross-sectional area (Table 1).Digit First
Discussion
We used ex vivo caliper measurements of flexor tendon cross-sectional area to evaluate the range of sizes of flexor digitorum profundus tendons between digits in the same hand. We found a size variation of approximately 40% between the smallest (little finger) and the largest (middle finger) flexor digitorum profundus tendons across specimens. Information on the relative cross-sectional sizes of intrasynovial digital flexor tendons within hands has been heretofore unavailable. The finding that
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2012, Clinical BiomechanicsCitation Excerpt :It is known that the strength of the tendon depends on the thickness; i.e., it increases in proportion to the transected area of the tendon (Managanaris and Narici, 2005). The transected area of a human flexor tendon in a digit is approximately 11 mm2 (Boyer et al., 2001), and will bear a load of 19 N during active motion (Schuind et al., 1992). Tolerance to this load is considered necessary in rehabilitation exercise.
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No benefits in any form have been received or will be received from a commercial party related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article.
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Reprint requests: Martin I. Boyer, MD, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, One Barnes Hospital Plaza, Suite 11300, St Louis, MO 63110.