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The effects of lateral meniscal allograft transplantation techniques on tibio-femoral contact pressures

Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy volume 16, pages 553–560 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

This paper reports a series of comparative tests in vitro, that examined how meniscectomy and meniscal allografting affected tibio-femoral joint contact pressure. Knees were loaded in axial compression and pressure maps obtained from the lateral compartment using Fuji Prescale film inserted below the meniscus. This was repeated after meniscectomy, and then after meniscal allografting with fixation by a bone plug for the insertional ligaments, plus sutures. Finally, the pressure, when the allograft was secured by sutures alone, was measured. The peak pressure rose significantly after meniscectomy, and then was reduced significantly by both allograft methods so that it was not significantly different to normal. Allografts fixed by sutures only allowed slightly higher contact pressure than when they had bone fixation. This study suggests that meniscal allografting should have a chondroprotective effect and that there is a small advantage from adding bony fixation to suture fixation.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the UK National Blood and Tissue Service, and we thank Dr. Ruth Warwick for her advice and help. The Instron machine was donated by the Arthritis Research Campaign. We thank Arthrex Inc. for lending us the surgical instruments, Professor René Verdonk for his friendly advice, and the staff of Ealing Hospital Pathology Department for their help.

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Affiliations

  1. Mechanical Engineering Department, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2AZ, UK

    Ian D. McDermott, Denny T. T. Lie, Andrew Edwards & Andrew A. Amis

  2. Bioengineering Department, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2AZ, UK

    Anthony M. J. Bull

  3. Musculoskeletal Surgery Department, Imperial College London, Charing Cross Hospital, London, W6 8RF, UK

    Andrew A. Amis

Authors
  1. Ian D. McDermott
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  2. Denny T. T. Lie
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  3. Andrew Edwards
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  4. Anthony M. J. Bull
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  5. Andrew A. Amis
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Correspondence to Andrew A. Amis.

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McDermott, I.D., Lie, D.T.T., Edwards, A. et al. The effects of lateral meniscal allograft transplantation techniques on tibio-femoral contact pressures. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthr 16, 553–560 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-008-0503-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-008-0503-4

Keywords

  • Meniscus
  • Allograft
  • Transplantation
  • Fixation
  • Contact pressure