Biology and mechanics of skeletal muscle: what hand surgeons need to know when tensioning a tendon transfer.

Lieber RL.

J Hand Surg [Am], 2008 33(9):1655-6.

Abstract:

What does a hand surgeon who is interested in tendon transfers need to know about muscle? I have been enjoying my interaction with hand surgeons for over 25 years, and I can boil my answer down to 4 points—a surgeon must know how muscles are designed, how they work, how they adapt, and how to set them during a transfer. I am not a fan of the term “tensioning” for tendon transfers because the idea of tensioning a muscle is based on the assumption that “feel” is a good predictor of function. Unfortunately, this is not true. Let me give you a quick update in each of these areas.