Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 13, 2026

Ex vivo Mechanical Loading of Tendon
Published on: May 28, 2007
Response of the tendon during limb lengthening
G Szöke1, S-H Lee, A H R W Simpson
1University of Edinburgh, Teviot Place, Edinburgh EH8 9AG, Scotland, UK.
Abstract:
Little is known about the increase in length of tendons in postnatal life or of their response to limb lengthening procedures. A study was carried out in ten young and nine adult rabbits in which the tibia was lengthened by 20% at two rates 0.8 mm/day and 1.6 mm/day. The tendon of the flexor digitorum longus (FDL) muscle showed a significant increase in length in response to lengthening of the tibia. The young rabbits exhibited a significantly higher increase in length in the FDL tendon compared with the adults. There was no difference in the amount of lengthening of the FDL tendon at the different rates. Of the increase in length which occurred, 77% was in the proximal half of the tendon. This investigation demonstrated that tendons have the ability to lengthen during limb distraction. This occurred to a greater extent in the young who showed a higher proliferative response, suggesting that there may be less need for formal tendon lengthening in young children.
Related Concept Videos
Muscle Contraction
Muscle Contraction
Excitation-Contraction Coupling in Skeletal Muscles
When an action potential...
Relaxation of Skeletal Muscles
When an action potential reaches the axon terminal, it depolarizes the membrane and opens voltage-gated sodium channels. Sodium ions enter the cell, further depolarizing the presynaptic membrane. This depolarization causes voltage-gated calcium channels to open.
Motor Unit Stimulation
The latent period of contraction marks the onset of excitation-contraction coupling, when the action potential propagates across the sarcolemma, preparing the muscle fibers for contraction. As the fibers enter the contraction phase, the...
Isotonic and Isometric Muscle Contractions
Isotonic contractions
Isotonic contractions occur when a muscle changes length while the...

