Early impairment of cartilage poroelastic properties in an animal model of ACL tear.

Background: In more than 50% of cases, anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) lesions lead to post-traumatic osteoarthritis. Ligament reconstruction stabilizes the joint, but the tear seems to impair the poroelasticity of the cartilage: synovial membrane fluid inflammation is observed 3 weeks after tearing. There have been some descriptions of visible cartilage changes, but poroelasticity has never been analyzed at this early stage.