Ligament and Tendon Injury is Permanent

Ligament and Tendon Injury is Permanent. Period.

Ligaments and tendons are structures that are often injured as a result of a motor vehicle accident. When intact and healthy, these structures are responsible for allowing normal joint motion and stability. When injured, ligaments and tendons heal with inferior tissues (wound healing) or do not heal at all. Woo et al. (1999) state that, “Injury to these structures can cause significant joint instability, which may lead to injury of other tissues and the development of degenerative joint disease.” (p. 312-313). When evaluating a trauma victim, special tests can be ordered to evaluate for ligament and tendon damage. The most important aspect of the evaluation is to determine permanency in creating a final diagnosis, as this will enable the doctor to create an accurate prognosis and treatment plan. Woo et al. (1999) also state that, “Final maturation of the injured ligament in the human is not complete for at least 1 year. Even at this time the tensile strength of the healed tissue remains inferior to normal, uninjured tissue.” (p. 314). Simply stated, damaged soft tissues, such as ligaments and tendons of all joints, never heal, they wound repair with permanent, relatively unstable tissue.

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Reference:

Woo, S. L., Hildebrand, K., Watanabe, N., Fenwick, J. A., Papageorgiou, C. D., & Wang, J. H. (1999). Tissue engineering of ligament and tendon healing. Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, 367, S312-S323.