Influence of hyaluronic acid on intra-articular friction - a biomechanical study in whole animal joints.

Background: Cartilage is a mechanically highly stressed tissue in the human body and an important part of synovial joints. The joint cartilage is lubricated by synovial fluid with hyaluronic acid (HA) as main component. However, in joints with osteoarthritis HA has a lower concentration and molecular weight compared to healthy joints.

Influence of Cage Design on Radiological and Clinical Outcomes in Dorsal Lumbar Spinal Fusions: A Comparison of Lordotic and Non-Lordotic Cages.

Objectives: To evaluate the comparison between lordotic and non-lordotic transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) cages in degenerative lumbar spine surgery and analyze radiological as well as clinical outcome parameters in long-term follow up.

Methods: In a retrospective study design, we compared 37 patients with non-lordotic cage (NL-group) and 40 with a 5° lordotic cage (L-group) implanted mono- or bi-segmental in TLIF-technique from 2013 to 2016 and analyzed radiological parameters of pre- and postoperative (Lumbar lordosis (LL), segmental lordosis (SL), and pelvic tilt (PT), as well as clinical parameters in a follow-up physical examination using the Oswestry disability index (ODI), Roland-Morris Score (RMS), and visual analog scale (VAS).

Results: Surgery was mainly performed in lower lumbar spine with a peak in L4/5 (mono-segmental) and L4 to S1 (bi-segmental), long-term follow-up was on average 4 years postoperative.

Effect of graft positioning on dissipated energy in knee osteochondral autologous transplantation-A biomechanical study.

Focal cartilage defects can be treated by osteochondral autologous transplantation (OAT). High congruence of the graft with the surrounding cartilage structure is essential for a good clinical outcome, but can not always be achieved. We recently established a method to measure dissipated energy (DE) as a friction parameter in knee joints.