Development of a traumatic anterior cruciate ligament and meniscal rupture model with a pilot in vivo study.

The current study describes the development of a small animal, closed-joint model of traumatic anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscal rupture. This model can be used in future studies to investigate the roles of these acute damages on the long-term health of an injured knee joint. Forty-two Flemish Giant rabbits received an insult to the left tibiofemoral joint ex vivo in order to document optimal energy and joint orientation needed to generate ACL and meniscal rupture, without gross fracture of bone.

Chronic changes in the rabbit tibial plateau following blunt trauma to the tibiofemoral joint.

The knee is often a site of injury that can often lead to a chronic disease known as osteoarthritis (OA). The disease may be initiated, in part, by acute injuries to joint cartilage and its cells. In a recent study by this laboratory, using Flemish Giant rabbits, an impact compressive load on the tibial femoral joint was shown to cause significant levels of acute damage to chondrocytes in cartilage of the medial and lateral tibial plateaus.

Acute repair of chondrocytes in the rabbit tibiofemoral joint following blunt impact using P188 surfactant and a preliminary investigation of its long-term efficacy.

Recent studies have indicated that there may be a correlation between acute chondrocyte damage and joint degeneration reminiscent of early-stage osteoarthritis (OA). P188 surfactant has been shown to acutely restore the integrity of damaged chondrocytes; however, its long-term efficacy is unknown. The hypothesis of this study was that a single injection of P188 into a traumatized joint would acutely repair damaged cell membranes and maintain their viability in the long term.

Traumatic anterior cruciate ligament tear and its implications on meniscal degradation: a preliminary novel lapine osteoarthritis model.

Background: Injury patterns of the meniscus following impact trauma resulting in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture are not well understood. This study explored the spatial and temporal distribution of meniscal tears in a novel in vivo lapine model.

Methods: Skeletally mature Flemish Giant rabbits were subjected to either tibiofemoral impaction resulting in ACL rupture or surgical ACL transection.

Chondrocyte damage and contact pressures following impact on the rabbit tibiofemoral joint.

Epidemiological studies show that tibial plateau fractures comprise about 10% of all below-knee injuries in car crashes. Studies from this laboratory document that impacts to the tibiofemoral (TF) joint at 50% of the energy producing gross fracture can generate cartilage damage and microcracks at the interface between calcified cartilage and underlying subchondral bone in the tibial plateau. These injuries are suggestive of the initiation for a long term chronic disease, such as osteoarthritis.