Treatment of longitudinal injuries in avascular area of meniscus in dogs by trephination.
A study promoting the healing of longitudinal injuries in an avascular area of the meniscus in 21 male dogs is reported. One horizontal hole from the peripheral vasculature to one of the artificial longitudinal injuries to both medial menisci of the knee in each dog was made with a needlelike trephine. The knee joints were not immobilized and the samples were taken 2, 4, 8, 12, and 24 weeks, respectively, after the operation. [3H]Thymidine was injected into the joint cavity 72 h before the sample was taken. Healed lengths were measured, and pathologic examinations and autoradiography were performed. The results showed that all of the injuries treated with trephination were partly or totally healed whereas those in controls were not healed at all, suggesting that trephination may be the procedure of choice for clinic orthopedists dealing with such injuries. By the 8th week, the healed length stopped increasing, the scar tissue began to mature, and the DNA synthesis of the fibroblasts in the granulation tissue and the fibrochondrocytes in the trephined meniscus reduced. It is thought that the fibrochondrocyte of the meniscus and the fibroblast in the granulation might be capable of obtaining the thymidine directly from the synovia of knee joint for their DNA metabolism. Multiplication of the fibrochondrocyte in the injured meniscus was also found.
Zhang
Z N
ZN
Orthopedic Department, Chang Zheng Hospital, Shanghai, China.
Tu
K Y
KY
Xu
Y K
YK
Zhang
W M
WM
Liu
Z T
ZT
Ou
S H
SH
D000818:Animals; D001345:Autoradiography; D004285:Dogs; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008592:Menisci, Tibial / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008722:Methods; D013525:Surgical Instruments; D000070600:Tibial Meniscus Injuries; D014945:Wound Healing