Morphological study of plantaris tendon and its surgical perspectives

oleh: Syed NazeerAhmed , Mirza NisarH. Baig, Pradeep H Murudkar

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: Prathima Institute of Medical Sciences 2014-12-01

Deskripsi

Introduction: Plantaris tendon is a long, slender tendon having the property of stretching and can be converted into a thin sheath when stretched. The plantaris tendon has been used in various tendon repairs and also membrane created from plantaris tendon may be wrapped around tendon anastomosis. Materials and methods: In this study of 50 embalmed lower limbs, various parameters of the plantaris tendon i.e. length, breadth, thickness were measured. Data analyzed as numbers and mean value. The unpaired t test was used to study the significance of the differences in male and females and right and left plantaris tendon. Results: The total 25 adult cadavers studied of which 23 were males and 2 were females, out of these there were 25 left and 25 right limbs. It has been observed that the mean tendon length was more in male cadavers compared with female cadavers INTRODUCTION The origin of plantaris muscle is from the lateral supracondylar line of the popliteal surface of the femur just superior and medial to the lateral head of the gastrocnemius muscle as well as from the oblique popliteal ligament in the posterior aspect of the knee. 1,2,3 The muscle belly ranges from 7-13 cm long varying in its size and form when present, and the mean length of the tendon from its proximal 4,5 insertion to its distal insertion is 43.25 cm. The agenesis of the plantaris muscle may affect the Perspectives in Medical Research | September - December 2014 | Vol 2 | Issue 3 (33.38±7.430, 30.73±.957) whereas mean tendon breadth was slightly more in female cadavers as compa r ed with ma l e s (. 3085±.14115, .3125±.08539). The dimension of left side tendon in length (32.97±7.209, 33.36±7.256), breadth (.2940±.11962, .3236±.15332) and thickness (.056±.0369, .080±.0951) was slightly more on the left side compared with the right side. No statistical significance was obtained in the morphology of the tendon in the context of right and left side as well as male and female. Conclusion: As the plantaris tendon is a tensile and stretchable structure, it is used as a strong reinforcement membrane and can be useful for surgeons performing various reconstructive surgeries. In such scenario study of morphological characteristics of the tendon is of utmost importance