Mineral Composition at the Tendon-to-Bone Insertion and Its Role in Stress Transfer

Musculoskeletal injuries are a common cause of pain and disability, and result in significant health care costs. Rotator cuff injuries, which make up the majority of soft tissue injuries to the upper extremity, commonly require surgical repair to the humeral head. At the rotator cuff, for example, the recurrence of tears to surgically repaired tendons has been reported to be as high as 94% [1]. The most dramatic feature of the failed tendon-to-bone healing scenarios is the lack of a transition zone between the tendon and bone that existed before the injury [2].