Extension of knee immobilization delays recovery of histological damages in the anterior cruciate ligament insertion and articular cartilage in rabbits.
Hirotaka Mutsuzaki, Hiromi Nakajima, Masataka Sakane
PMID 29410585WHAT IT FOUND
In rabbits, microscopic damage remained after 8 weeks remobilization when immobilization had lasted 4 weeks in the ACL insertion and 8 weeks in the articular cartilage.
This is animal tissue data, not human practice evidence.
Key findings
01In the ACL insertion, chondrocyte apoptosis was higher in the remobilization group than in the control group after 8 weeks of immobilization.
02Chondrocyte proliferation was lower in the remobilization group than in the control group in the ACL insertion after 4 weeks and after 8 weeks, and in the articular cartilage after 8 weeks.
03Thickness of GAG-stained areas did not differ significantly between groups in the ACL insertion or articular cartilage after any fixation period.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study was done in rabbits, not people, so it cannot show what happens in patients. It measured microscopic cartilage changes, not pain, movement, strength, or function. Each immobilization period group had only six rabbits. The paper says the rabbits were randomly divided, but it does not say how the tissue assessments were blinded.
Declared interests
The authors declared no competing interests. The paper does not state who funded the work.
The easy way to misread this
Do not use this paper to set human immobilization or remobilization durations. It reports microscopic cartilage changes in rabbits, not patient outcomes.