Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews· 2014Q1· Review
Biologics for tendon repair
- 717citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2014year
Short summary
Biologics like growth factors, stem cells, biomaterials, and gene therapy offer promising strategies to enhance tendon repair, addressing the limitations of current surgical methods and the poor understanding of tendon biology.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Tendon injuries are common and poorly responsive to current treatments, often resulting in incomplete recovery of strength and function.
- Existing therapeutic options like sutures, autografts, allografts, and synthetic prostheses have not provided successful long-term solutions.
- Biological strategies under investigation include growth factors, stem cells, natural biomaterials, and gene therapy, used alone or in combination.
- Advancing the understanding of tendon biology and cellular processes is key to developing effective tendon-specific therapeutics.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Tendon injuries are common and present a clinical challenge to orthopedic surgery mainly because these injuries often respond poorly to treatment and require prolonged rehabilitation. Therapeutic options used to repair ruptured tendons have consisted of suture, autografts, allografts, and synthetic prostheses. To date, none of these alternatives has provided a successful long-term solution, and often the restored tendons do not recover their complete strength and functionality. Unfortunately, our understanding of tendon biology lags far behind that of other musculoskeletal tissues, thus impeding the development of new treatment options for tendon conditions. Hence, in this review, after introducing the clinical significance of tendon diseases and the present understanding of tendon biology, we describe and critically assess the current strategies for enhancing tendon repair by biological means. These consist mainly of applying growth factors, stem cells, natural biomaterials and genes, alone or in combination, to the site of tendon damage. A deeper understanding of how tendon tissue and cells operate, combined with practical applications of modern molecular and cellular tools could provide the long awaited breakthrough in designing effective tendon-specific therapeutics and overall improvement of tendon disease management.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 2014 · DOI ↗
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Field: Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
Orthopedics and Sports MedicineMedicine