Tendon Injuries of the Hand: Current Treatment Strategies and Future Options
Abstract
Travis J Miller and Walter C Lin
Tendons form the crucial connections linking muscles to bones, allowing movement of the axial and appendicular skeleton. Hand injuries often involve tendinous injury which may severely impair daily function. Current clinical treatment strategies for tendon injuriesare suboptimal, requiringimmobilization and prolonged rehabilitation, but regenerative medicine presents promising future treatment strategies that may expedite return of function, improving long-term patient outcomes. In this review, we discuss current treatment paradigms for upper extremity tendon injuries, as well as the potential impact that emerging regenerative medicine and stem cell related strategies may bring to improving clinical treatment