Analysis and Modelling of Mechanical Behavior of Mechanicaly-lesioned Tendons treated with Low Level Laser Therapy and/or Cryotherapy

Abstract

Tendinopathy are part of the so-called Group of musculo-skeletal disorders more common in modern society. There are several causes, either daily activities, work-related or in sports practice. Among the above occurrence, we can highlight the tendinopathy of the Achilles tendon, known worldwide as the Achilles tendonitis. Chronic pain in the tendons are relatively common, especially considering the Achilles tendon, patellar and the elbow. The tendinopathy are changes in health tendon, usually frequent and difficult to treat, disabling from professional and recreational athletes to ordinary people in their workplaces. In recent years, the traumatic nature of the sport to ligaments and tendons produced a significant increase in the number of ligament and tendon injuries. For example, in France, the Anterior Cruciate Ligament injuries in skiing every year affecting between 15,000 and 18,000 people. But this kind of "damage" is also common in all sports known as "pivot" (where the knee and ankle are very used to sudden changes of direction, and the body weight is concentrated heavily on one leg like football, judo, handball , volleyball or basketball. The incidence of these lesions has been estimated at 2 per 1000 population per year in the US. Several therapies are used in order to ease the pain, discomfort and promote the improvement of the affected tissue function, but the first step soon after diagnosis is to identify the cause of the injury and the factors that may be involved, so as to avoid the risk of recurrence. Between the two lines of treatment, the conservative is the choice in most cases. It includes a wide variety of behaviors such as:. pharmacological therapy, light therapy, cryotherapy, eccentric exercises, among others Although we find in the literature several treatments for tendinopathy, many of these studies have low methodological quality, such as the lack of placebo and control groups. The objective of this study is to compare the effects of mono-therapies using low power laser or cryotherapy, and also the comibinação both in different application orders (laser / cryotherapy, cryotherapy / laser) on inflammation of the tendon and regeneration, using modern techniques such as modeling of mechanical, optical microscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy, and biochemical and molecular tests. (AU)