Objective To investigate the result of the arthroscopicrepair of the meniscus tears with the absorbable sutures. Methods From June 1998 to May2003，the meniscus tears in 110 patients (78 males, 32 females; aged 1466 years, averaged 27.5 years) were repaired with absorbable sutures under an arthroscope. In the patients, there were 93 vertical split injuries, 12 transverse split injuries, and 5 hidden split injuries. There were 78 tears in the lateral margin of the meniscus, 23 tears in the anterior angle of the meniscus, and 9 tears in the posterior angle of the meniscus. Ninetyone patients had 2 sutures, 13 patients had 4 sutures, 4 patients had 6 sutures, and 2 patients had 8 sutures. The rehabilitation program was performed in all the patients postoperatively, and the clinical outcome was observed. The Lysholm score was 57±12 preoperatively. Results Thefollow-up for an average of 26 months (range,12-67 months) showed that 3 patients had a light pain on exertion in the surgically-treated knee;1 patientunderwent an operation again for recurrence of the symptoms due to a failure in the healing of the meniscus tear, so a second arthroscopic operation was performed; and the other patients had a satisfactory result with an excellent knee function. The Lysholm score was 92±7 after operation. Conclusion The arthroscopic repair of the meniscustears has advantages of safety and reliability in the suturing and easier to perform. The repaired meniscus can play much better physiological and biomechanical functions, and will not limit the normal movement of the meniscus during the knee flexion after the sutures are absorbed.
Objective To evaluate the clinical importance of doublecontrast CTdiagnosis of traumatic anterior shoulder instability. Methods Forty-eight patients underwent double contrast CT scan. With the guide of CT scan, anterior arthrocentesis of the shoulder was performed and 4 ml of 76% urografin was injected into the joint and then 10 ml of filtrated air was injected. The patients wereexamined by SOMATOM CR Systematic CT. The results of double contrast CT of the 48 patients were divided into Ⅰ, Ⅱ and Ⅲ degree according to the CT results related to their injury history, clinical symptoms, signs and operation findings. Results The patients had no complaint after the CT examination exceptfor 3 patients, who had slight pain within 2 days after CT examination. The results of double contrast CT were as follow:Ⅰ degree: 9 patients, Ⅱ degree: 22 patients, and Ⅲ degree: 17 patients. All patients with Ⅰ degree injuries were treated with rehabilitation program. The patients with Ⅱ degree injuries were mainly treated withrehabilitation program, but took much longer time. The patients with Ⅲ degreeinjuries were suggested to be treated with surgery. Conclusion To divide the results of double contrast CT into Ⅰ，Ⅱ and Ⅲ degree not only reflects the severity of traumatic anterior shoulder instability but provides information for the treatment of the instability.
OBJECTIVE To probe the clinical results of a new designed operation-double semitendinous reconstruction of posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) with invasive mini-plate. METHODS The new surgical technique was performed on 28 patients with PCL deficient knee in our department from September 1994 to October 1997. Protection of popliteal nerves and blood vessels was emphasized in the operation, and the femoral and tibial tunnel placement was critical to the procedure’s success. RESULTS All patients were followed up 18 to 36 months, averaged 22 months, they gained stable knees. The knee function of 28 patients recovered to normal after the operation, 1 patients had a small range of limitation of the knee flexion, but no obvious dysfunction. CONCLUSION Double semitendinous reconstruction of PCL with invasive mini-plate has advantages in the operated field exposure, adequate tibial and femoral fixation and excellent results in motion, stability and function of the knee after the operation.
Objective To make a comparison for the change of maximum tensile intensity and stiffness of a whole implant that is placed into bone tunnel with various lengths tendon, by using beagle dog’s autogenous flexor tendons to reconstruct anterior cruciate l igament (ACL). Methods Sixty male beagle dogs were included in the experiment (weighting 13-16 kg). Three dogs were used for intact flexor tendon of both knees (normal control group), 3 dogs for the intact ACL andfemur-graft-tibia complex (auto control group) and 54 dogs (108 knees) for models of reconstructed ACL (6 experimentalgroups according to different lengths of tendon: 5, 9, 13, 17, 21 and 25 mm in the bone tunnel). The tensile intensity and stiffness were measured after 45, 90 and 180 days separately after operation. Results In the normal control group, the maximum tensile intensity of the intact flexor tendon was (564.15 ± 36.18) N, the stiffness was (59.89 ± 4.28) N/ mm. In the auto control group, the maximum tensile intensity of the intact ACL was (684.75 ± 48.10) N, the stiffness was (74.34 ± 6.99) N/ mm, all ruptured through the intra-articular portion of the graft. The maximum tensile intensity of femur-graft-tibia complex in the auto control group was (301.92 ± 15.04) N, the stiffness was (31.35 ± 1.97) N/mm. After 45 days of operation, all failure occurred at the tibial or femoral insertion site. After 90 days of operation, 24 of the breakpoints were scattered in tendon-bone junction, 12 (3 in 17 mm group, 5 in 21 mm group, 4 in 25 mm group) ruptured through the intra-articular portion. After 180 days of the operation, all breakpoints were distributed inside joint of the implant. The maximum tensile intensity and the stiffness were ber in 17, 21 and 25 mm groups than in 5, 9 and 13 mm groups after operation (P lt; 0.05). Conclusion Tendon with 17 mm length, which will be implanted into bone tunnel, is an appl icable index, in reconstruction of ACL by autogenous tendons.
Objective To explore heterotopic chondrogenesis of canine myoblasts induced by cartilage-derived morphogenetic protein 2 (CDMP-2) and transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) which were seeded on poly (lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) scaffolds after implantation in a subcutaneous pocket of nude mice. Methods Myoblasts from rectus femoris of 1-year-old Beagle were seeded on PLGA scaffolds and cultured in medium containing CDMP-2 and TGF-β1 for 2 weeks in vitro. Then induced myoblasts-PLGA scaffold, uninduced myoblasts-PLGA scaffold, CDMP-2 and TGF-β1-PLGA scaffold, and simple PLGA scaffold were implanted into 4 zygomorphic back subcutaneous pockets of 24 nude mice in groups A, B, C, and D, respectively. At 8 and 12 weeks, the samples were harvested for general observation, HE staining and toluidine blue staining, immunohistochemical staining for collagen type I and collagen type II; the mRNA expressions of collagen type I, collagen type II, Aggrecan, and Sox9 were determined by RT-PCR, the glycosaminoglycans (GAG) content by Alician blue staining, and the compressive elastic modulus by biomechanics. Results In group A, cartilaginoid tissue was milky white with smooth surface and slight elasticity at 8 weeks, and had similar appearance and elasticity to normal cartilage tissue at 12 weeks. In group B, few residual tissue remained at 8 weeks, and was completely degraded at 12 weeks. In groups C and D, the implants disappeared at 8 weeks. HE staining showed that mature cartilage lacuna formed of group A at 8 and 12 weeks; no cartilage lacuna formed in group B at 8 weeks. Toluidine blue staining confirmed that new cartilage cells were oval and arranged in line, with lacuna and blue-staining positive cytoplasm and extracellular matrix in group A at 8 and 12 weeks; no blue metachromatic extracellular matrix was seen in group B at 8 weeks. Collagen type I and collagen type II expressed positively in group A, did not expressed in group B by immunohistochemical staining. At 8 weeks, the mRNA expressions of collagen type I, collagen type II, Aggrecan, and Sox9 were detected by RT-PCR in group A at 8 and 12 weeks, but negative results were shown in group B. The compressive elastic modulus and GAG content of group A were (90.79 ± 1.78) MPa and (10.20 ± 1.07) μg/mL respectively at 12 weeks, showing significant differences when compared with normal meniscus (P lt; 0.05). Conclusion Induced myoblasts-PLGA scaffolds can stably express chondrogenic phenotype in a heterotopic model of cartilage transplantation and represent a suitable tool for tissue engineering of menisci.