Biomechanical properties of the repaired tissue of rabbit knee articular cartilage by autologous osteochondral transplantation

Objective To evaluate the disparity of compressive biomechanical properties and the histological structures between the repaired cartilage and the normal ones were examine 12 weeks after autologous osteochondral transplantation.Methods 18 New Zealand white rabbits were selected and a full-thickness cylindrical osteochondral defect was made on the right knee femoral trochlea of each by using Osteochondral Autograft Transfer System(OATS).The defect was repaired with the osteochondral plug with the same diameter and depth taken from the proximal femoral trochlea using the OATS.The contralateral femoral trochlea was treated as normal control.The repaired cartilage and the contralateral,normal cartilage were evaluated in 12 weeks postoperative.The cartilage specimens of 12 rabbits were tested under unconfined compression,the linear elastic model and the linear biphasic model were applied and Young’s modulus the equilibrium compressive modulus the stress relaxation time and creep time were obtained.The paired t test was used to estimate the disparity between the repaired cartilage and the normal control.The other cartilage specimens were stained with hematoxylin and eorin、toluidine blue to examine the histological structure under light microscopy.Results The biomechanical properties of two groups did not show statistically difference(P<0.001).The repaired cartilaginous structures under light microscopy were the same as the normal cartilage.Conclusions The short-term effects of repaired cartilage employing OATS are satisfying,but the long-term results need further more investigating.

卫生部科学研究基金题(WKJ2004-2-009)