Athena Vale
Muscle lacerations are a rare type of injury that occur when a muscle is cut. Muscle heals well, but scars. Transverse cuts scar and become stiff, while longitudinal splits preserve function better. The body's natural response to injury is to send repair cells to fill in tissue across the scaffold, but this can cause swelling and inflammation, which slows down healing. To prevent this, doctors may suture the muscle to speed up healing and reduce scar formation.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Muscle healing | Scars |
| Muscle laceration | Least common muscle injury |
| Muscle repair | Sutures work best |
| Muscle recovery | Longitudinal splits preserve function |
| Muscle recovery | Transverse cuts scar and become stiff |
| Muscle recovery | Can form heterotopic ossification, or scar bone |
| Muscle recovery | Takes a long time |
| Muscle recovery | Brain sends repair cells to build a collagen scaffold |
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What You'll Learn
- Muscle lacerations are treated with sutures to speed up healing and reduce scarring
- Transverse cuts through muscle will scar and become fibrotic and less stretchy
- Muscle, when damaged, can form heterotopic ossification, or scar bone
- The brain sends special cells to the injured muscle to build a collagen scaffold
- Full restoration of the muscle to pre-injury strength and flexibility is hard to achieve
Muscle lacerations are treated with sutures to speed up healing and reduce scarring
Orthopaedic surgeons aim to minimise scar tissue formation and help the patient to rehabilitate the muscle so it remains flexible after it heals. Sutures are preferred for muscle lacerations to achieve better healing and less scar formation within the muscle. Using only immobilisation to allow the muscle fibres to regenerate usually takes much longer and results in the development of more scar tissue. Transverse cuts through muscle will scar together and become fibrotic and less stretchy. Longitudinal splits, however, better preserve function.
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Transverse cuts through muscle will scar and become fibrotic and less stretchy
Orthopaedic surgeons will try to minimise scar tissue formation and help the patient to rehabilitate the muscle so it remains flexible after it heals. One way to do this is to suture the muscle, which allows for better healing and less scar formation within the muscle.
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Muscle, when damaged, can form heterotopic ossification, or scar bone
Orthopaedic surgeons will try to minimise scar tissue formation and help the patient rehabilitate the muscle so it remains flexible after it heals. Suturing the muscle can help with this, as it results in better healing and less scar formation within the muscle.
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The brain sends special cells to the injured muscle to build a collagen scaffold
Muscle is a complex, fibrous tissue, so healing usually takes a long time. The brain sends special cells to the injured muscle to build a bridge of new tissue, called a collagen scaffold, across the dissected area. This is part of the body's natural healing process.
The collagen scaffold is built by repair cells, which fill in the tissue across the scaffold. Some scar tissue will always form in this area. The scaffold is built across the dissected area, slowly building a bridge of new tissue.
The scaffold helps the muscle to regenerate. However, full restoration of the muscle to pre-injury strength and flexibility is hard to achieve, especially for deep and severe cuts. The muscle will scar together, becoming fibrotic and less stretchy. The muscle can also form heterotopic ossification, or scar bone.
To help the healing process, physicians may suture the muscle to encourage better healing and less scar formation.
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Full restoration of the muscle to pre-injury strength and flexibility is hard to achieve
Muscle laceration is the least common muscle injury. All lacerations, no matter how deep and severe, will develop scar tissue as a part of the natural healing process. The brain will send special cells to the injured muscle and slowly build a bridge of new tissue, called a collagen scaffold, across the dissected area. However, full restoration of the muscle to pre-injury strength and flexibility is hard to achieve. This is because muscle does not heal well in terms of function. Transverse cuts through muscle will scar together and become fibrotic and less stretchy. Longitudinal splits best preserve function, but transverse cuts just scar and become stiff.
To prevent this, physicians may suture the muscle for better healing and less scar formation within the muscle. Suturing is preferred to immobilization, which usually takes much longer and results in the development of more scar tissue. Using sutures, a physician can either suture the wound in their office or it may require a trip to the OR to repair, depending on the depth and severity of the cut.
In addition to scarring, muscle, when damaged, can form heterotopic ossification, or scar bone. To prevent this severe complication, if a person has not had a recent tetanus vaccination, they will get one.
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Frequently asked questions
Cut muscles heal through the formation of scar tissue. The brain sends special cells to the injured muscle to build a bridge of new tissue, called a collagen scaffold, across the dissected area.
For most muscle lacerations, sutures are the preferred treatment option as they result in better healing and less scar formation within the muscle.
If a cut muscle is not treated with sutures, it will still heal, but the process will take much longer and result in the development of more scar tissue.
For deep and severe cuts, full restoration of the muscle to pre-injury strength and flexibility is difficult to achieve. The goal of treatment is to minimise scar tissue formation and rehabilitate the muscle to maintain flexibility after healing.
