Table 3.
Patellar tendon properties
| Suspended | Control | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline | 14 days | 23 days | Pre | Post | |
| Max. tendon force (N) | 6796.9 ± 873.1 | 5554.5 ± 682.5** | 5283.5 ± 1136.8** | 7289.7 ± 1732.2 | 7062.6 ± 1986.5 |
| Resting length (mm) | 48.6 ± 3.0 | — | 48.5 ± 2.8 | 50.0 ± 5.2 | 49.9 ± 5.1 |
| CSA (mm2) | 100.7 ± 12.4 | — | 101.1 ± 11.6 | 125.5 ± 17.3 | 125.3 ± 17.3 |
| Elongation (mm) | 4.3 ± 1.1 | 4.7 ± 1.1** | 5.0 ± 1.0* | 3.5 ± 0.4 | 3.4 ± 0.4 |
| Stiffness (N mm−1) | 1605.3 ± 512.5 | 1447.6 ± 492.3* | 1135.4 ± 284.7**† | 1898.5 ± 292.2 | 1924.5 ± 355.8 |
| Young's modulus (GPa) | 0.83 ± 0.32 | 0.75 ± 0.32* | 0.58 ± 0.18**† | 0.77 ± 0.19 | 0.78 ± 0.21 |
| Stress (MPa) | 71.1 ± 14.1 | 58.0 ± 11.0** | 54.5 ± 12.7** | 59.4 ± 17.6 | 57.8 ± 18.7 |
| Strain (%) | 8.9 ± 2.3 | 9.7 ± 2.5 | 10.4 ± 2.1 | 7.1 ± 1.3 | 7.0 ± 1.2 |
*
Significantly different from baseline, P < 0.05
**
significantly different from baseline, P < 0.01
†
significantly different from 14 days, P < 0.05.