Soft Tissue Injuries

Burden of Disease

Soft tissues, including ligaments, tendons, muscles, nerves, and cartilage, can be injured in any violence, road accidents, work accidents, sports, repeated overuse, and normal everyday activities.Soft tissue injuries include sprains, strains, contusions, tendonopathy, bursitis, lacerations, ruptures, crushing, and compression injuries.In the UK, soft tissue injuries and conditions have been estimated to account, annually, for:1/3 million hospitalisations, 1.5 million bed days,1 million outpatient visits,3 million emergency room visits, andThere are an estimated 2 million sports injuries per year in the UK; 95% involve soft tissues.More than 50% of knee injuries result from sports.The leading work injuries causing lost productivity include:Sprains to the low back, knee, and upper arm;Amputation or crushed cuts of fingers.Cumulative trauma disorders, possibly including carpal tunnel syndrome, synovitis, tendonitis tenosynovitis and bursitis, account for 64% of all occupational illnesses.

Directions for Future Research

To explore the link between pain and soft tissue disorders.Develop improved methods of nerve repair.Develop synthetic replacements for muscle, ligament, tendon, and cartilage using tissue engineering or gene therapy.Understand the fitness requirements for men and women, for different age groups and for people with physical disabilities.Develop training programs that improve muscle performance.Study how joint injury occurs to help prevention and development of more effective protective devices for particular sports and jobs.


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