Patellar tendon stiffness is not reduced during pregnancy

It is believed that hormonal changes during pregnancy lead to an increased compliance in ligaments and tendons, increasing the risk to suffer from connective tissue injuries particularly during exercise. While the laxity of the pelvic ligaments may increase to facilitate childbirth, to our knowledge no study has ever investigated the mechanical properties of human tendons in different stages of pregnancy. Thus, the purpose of our longitudinal study was to investigate the mechanical properties of the patellar tendon in different stages of pregnancy and postpartum.
Nineteen pregnant women (30±4 years) and eleven non-pregnant controls (28±3 years) performed maximum isometric knee extension contractions on a dynamometer. Muscle strength and mechanical properties of the patellar tendon were determined integrating ultrasound, kinematic and electromyographic measurements. In pregnant women, measurements were performed in the 16±4th week of pregnancy (EP), the 29±4th week of pregnancy (LP) an...

现有研究表明，妊娠期间的激素变化会使韧带与肌腱的柔顺性(compliance)升高，进而提升结缔组织损伤的风险，尤其是在运动过程中。尽管骨盆韧带的松弛度(laxity)可能会升高以助力分娩，但据我们所知，目前尚无研究针对不同妊娠阶段人体肌腱的力学特性(mechanical properties)展开探讨。因此，本项纵向研究(longitudinal study)旨在探究不同妊娠阶段及产后(postpartum)状态下髌腱(patellar tendon)的力学特性。
19名妊娠女性（年龄30±4岁）与11名非妊娠对照受试者（年龄28±3岁）在测力仪(dynamometer)上完成了最大等长膝关节伸肌收缩。通过整合超声(ultrasound)、运动学(kinematic)与肌电图(electromyographic)测量数据，我们测定了受试者的肌肉力量与髌腱的力学特性。针对妊娠女性，我们分别在妊娠16±4周（早期妊娠，EP）、妊娠29±4周（晚期妊娠，LP）及……