Increasing Vascular Response to Injury Improves Tendon Early Healing Outcome in Aged Rats.

Tendon injuries positively correlate with patient age, as aging has significant effects on tendon homeostatic maintenance and healing potential after injury. Vascularity is also influenced by age, with both clinical and animal studies demonstrating reduced blood flow in aged tissues. However, it is unknown how aging effects vascularity following tendon injury, and if this vascular response can be modulated through the delivery of angiogenic factors.

Modulation of vascular response after injury in the rat Achilles tendon alters healing capacity.

Tendons are relatively hypovascular but become hypervascular during both injury and degeneration. This is due to the angiogenic response, or the formation of new blood vessels, to tissue injury. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of vascular modulation in the rat Achilles tendons during healing.

Ultrasound Evaluation of Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-Induced Changes in Vascular Response Following Tendon Injury.

While vascular ingrowth is necessary for tendon healing, hypervascularization following tendon injury is not always believed to be beneficial, and there is now evidence showing beneficial results of anti-angiogenic treatments in the context of tendon healing. However, the dose-dependency of anti-angiogenic-altered vascular response, as well as methods for evaluating these changes in vivo, has not been fully investigated. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate if in vivo ultrasound imaging can detect dose-dependent, anti-angiogenic treatment-induced changes in vascularity in rat Achilles tendon after injury.

Ultrasound-Guided Dry Needling of the Healthy Rat Supraspinatus Tendon Elicits Early Healing Without Causing Permanent Damage.

Overuse-induced tendinopathy is highly prevalent in the general population. Percutaneous fenestration, or dry needling, techniques have been increasing in popularity, but despite their current use, there are no controlled laboratory studies to provide fundamental support for this practice. The objective of this study was to establish a model for percutaneous needling of the rat supraspinatus tendon using ultrasound guidance and to evaluate the biological response of needling healthy tendon.