ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the function of both ligaments and tendons, relating this where possible to structure. It includes biomechanical tests that have been applied to them, relating the results to the effects of disease and injury. The chapter shows how intimate is the relationship between chemical stability and mechanical strength. Tendons and ligaments are considered under the same heading, because histologically they have the same structure, being aggregation of dense connective tissue. Histological textbooks describe tendons and ligaments as being derived from connective tissue. Connective tissue is one of the four basic tissues of the body and, as its name suggests, connects other tissues together. Both tendons and ligaments are strong, and injury when it occurs usually does so at the junction with bone or with muscle, unless there is some inherent defect within the tendon itself.
