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Repair of articular cartilage in rabbit osteochondral defects promoted by extracorporeal shock wave therapy

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Abstract

This study investigated the stimulative effect of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) on the articular cartilage regeneration in the rabbit osteochondral defect model for the first time. An osteochondral defect, 3 mm in diameter and 3 mm in depth, was drilled in the patellar groove at the distal end of each femur in 24 mature New Zealand rabbits. The right patellar defects received 500 impulses of shock waves of \(1.2 \hbox { mJ}/\hbox {mm}^{2}\) (at 14 kV) at 1 week after surgery and were designated as the experimental samples; the left patellar defects served as control. At 4, 8, and 12 weeks after ESWT, cartilage repair was evaluated macroscopically and histologically using a semiquantitative grading scale. The total scores of the macroscopic evaluation at 4, 8, and 12 weeks in the experimental group were superior to those in the control group (statistical significance level \(P < 0.05\)). As to the total scores of the histologic evaluation, the experimental group showed a tendency toward a better recovery than the control group at 4 weeks (\(0.05 < P < 0.1\)). At 8 and 12 weeks the differences between the experimental and control groups became mild and had no significance on statistical analysis. These findings suggested that regeneration of articular cartilage defects might be promoted by ESWT, especially at the early stage. The easy and safe ESWT is potentially viable for clinical application.

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Acknowledgments

The study was supported by a grant from Show-Chwan Memorial Research Fund RD96004. No benefits in any form have been received or will be received from a commercial party related to the subject of this article. Authors are appreciative of the support of Dr. Yu, C. D., Department of Orthopedics, Chang-Hwa Christian Hospital, Taiwan, in the animal experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopedics and Surgery, Show-Chwan Memorial Hospital, Chang-Hwa, 50000, Taiwan

    C.-H. Chu

  2. Department of Pathology, National Cheng-Kung University Hospital, Tainan, 70100, Taiwan

    Y.-S. Yen

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Da-Yeh University, Chang-Hwa, 51505, Taiwan

    P.-L. Chen

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong

    C.-Y. Wen

Authors
  1. C.-H. Chu
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  2. Y.-S. Yen
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  3. P.-L. Chen
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  4. C.-Y. Wen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to C.-Y. Wen.

Additional information

Communicated by H. Hosseini.

Each author certifies that his or her institution has approved the animal protocol for this investigation and that all investigations were conducted in conformity with ethical principles of research.

The extracorporeal shock wave therapy on rabbits was performed at Show-Chwan Memorial Hospital, Chang-Hwa, Taiwan and histologic examination of all resected specimens was performed at National Cheng-Kung University Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan.

Each author certifies that he or she has no commercial associations (e.g., consultancies, stock ownership, equity interest, patent/licensing arrangements, etc.) that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article.

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Chu, CH., Yen, YS., Chen, PL. et al. Repair of articular cartilage in rabbit osteochondral defects promoted by extracorporeal shock wave therapy. Shock Waves 25, 205–214 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00193-014-0510-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00193-014-0510-y

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