The effect of removal of the medical collateral ligament on subchondral bone and cartilage in the growing rat knee joint
Messner, K.; Lundberg, M.; Andersson, B.
Acta Anatomica 156(1): 34-40
1996
ISSN/ISBN: 0001-5180 PMID: 8960296 Document Number: 462268
The growing knee joint in immature rats was chosen as a model to study quantitatively bone apposition and thickness of articular cartilage after surgical removal of the medial collateral ligament. In 32 rats, subchondral bone apposition was assessed by measuring double tetracyclin labelling, and the thickness of calcified and uncalcified articular cartilage was measured by image analysis. The results indicate that there was a significant increase in subchondral bone growth after removal of the medial collateral ligament, but no change in thickness of the calcified and uncalcified zones of the articular cartilage in the medial knee compartment. Further, despite an obvious increase in valgus laxity on manual examination, there were no signs of articular cartilage degeneration in any animal. The study shows that traumatic injury to ligaments and joint instability during the growing period may influence the development of subchondral bone in the knee joint.