title: Reconstruction of rabbit anterior cruciate ligament using the autogenous patellar tendon.
abstract: We excised the anterior cruciate ligament and reconstructed it with the patellar tendon autograft in 43 rabbits. The animals were sacrificed from 2 to 48 weeks after reconstruction. Gross and histological examinations of 43 knees were performed to investigate the characteristics of the maturation process of the grafts. The reconstructed ligaments were found to be lusterless white and covered with synovial tissue throughout the study. At 24 weeks, the grafts were remodeled with wider collagen bundles and with less vascularity after degenerative processes. There was graft relaxation, a response to the initial tension, postoperatively over the entire 24 weeks. This suggests that postoperative management should be carefully performed during graft maturation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Tokai University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kusayama
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016118:Anterior Cruciate Ligament / Q000601:surgery*; D017847:Patellar Ligament / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000637:transplantation*; D011817:Rabbits; D013997:Time Factors; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous