Effect of postoperative immobilisation on the regrowth of the knee joint semilunar cartilage: An experimental study

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Abstract
Bilateral total medial meniscectomy was undertaken in the knee joints of 12 adult greyhounds. One‐half of the animals had one meniscectomised joint immobilised by an external fixation system for 5 weeks following meniscectomy. All animals were sacrificed 6 months after surgery. The menisci (regrown and normal) were examined for collagen content and analysed histochemically to assess collagen assembly and glycosaminoglycan (GAG) distribution. Although the collagen content of regrown tissues was not statistically different from normal medial or lateral menisci, the fibre development and GAGs were abnormal. It is concluded that movement following meniscectomy is likely beneficial to the matrix formation in the regenerating tissue, but this together with weight bearing may have a detrimental effect on articular cartilage of the medial joint compartment.

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