Drug Delivery Systems for Tendon and Ligament

Tendon and ligament injuries are the most difficult to heal musculoskeletal injuries, as they are bradytrophic tissues with poor vascularization, innervation, and inferior regenerative capacity. Tendinopathies, acute and chronic injuries, are conventionally treated by surgery, autografts, allografts, physical therapy, and pain medication drug delivery. Unfortunately, none of these treatment modalities are curative, restoring tendons and ligaments to their original strength and functionality. Toward improving treatments, in the past, researchers have focused on drug delivery strategies inspired by the tendon healing paradigms (e.g., growth factor delivery) and tendon microstructure (e.g., biomaterial-based drug delivery systems). The new frontier in preclinical tendon and ligament treatments focuses on integrated therapeutics combining drugs and biologics with biomaterials for additional synergistic effects. This book chapter comprehensively reviews clinical and pre-clinical treatment options for tendinopathies.