The effect of the local corticosteroids on the healing and biomechanical properties of the partially injured tendon.

The effects of repeated small doses of local corticosteroid into tendons on healing, formation of adhesions, and the biomechanical properties were investigated in 20 New Zealand rabbits. There were significant decreases in tendon weight (13%), amount of adhesions (66%), load to failure (29.8%), and energy to failure (67.16%) in the cortisone group compared to the saline group. There were no significant differences in healing and strain-elongation of the tendons in the two groups.