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Tibiofemoral loss of contact area but no changes in peak pressures after meniscectomy in a Lapine in vivo quadriceps force transfer model

  • Knee
  • Published:
Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy Aims and scope

Abstract

Purpose

The menisci are thought to modulate load transfer and to absorb shocks in the knee joint. No study has experimentally measured the meniscal functions in the intact, in vivo joint loaded by physiologically relevant muscular contractions.

Methods

Right knee joints of seven New Zealand white rabbits were loaded using isometric contractions of the quadriceps femoris muscles controlled by femoral nerve stimulation. Isometric knee extensor torques at the maximal and two submaximal force levels were performed at knee angles of 70°, 90°, 110°, and 130°. Patellofemoral and tibiofemoral contact areas and pressure distributions were measured using Fuji Presensor film inserted above and below the menisci and also with the menisci removed.

Results

Meniscectomy was associated with a decrease in tibiofemoral contact area ranging from 30 to 70 % and a corresponding increase in average contact pressures. Contact areas measured below the menisci were consistently larger than those measured on top of the menisci. Contact areas in the patellofemoral joint (PFJ), and peak pressures in tibiofemoral and PFJs, were not affected by meniscectomy. Contact areas and peak pressures in all joints depended crucially on knee joint angle and quadriceps force: The more flexed the knee joint was, the larger were the contact areas and the higher were the peak pressures.

Conclusions

In agreement with the literature, removal of the menisci was associated with significant decreases in tibiofemoral contact area and corresponding increases in average contact pressures, but surprisingly, peak pressures remained unaffected, indicating that the function of the menisci is to distribute loads across a greater contact area.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the CIHR, the Canada Research Chair Program (WH), The Killam Foundation, the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, the AHFMR Team Grant for Osteoarthritis, the Swiss National Foundation (PBBEP3-125614), and the Swiss Orthopaedic Society (AL). The authors would like to thank Azim Jinha for technical assistance.

Conflict of interest

None of the authors have anything to disclose.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Human Performance Laboratory, Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada

    Andre Leumann, Rafael Fortuna, Tim Leonard & Walter Herzog

  2. Orthopaedic Department, University Hospital of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Andre Leumann & Victor Valderrabano

Authors
  1. Andre Leumann
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  2. Rafael Fortuna
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  3. Tim Leonard
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  4. Victor Valderrabano
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  5. Walter Herzog
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Correspondence to Walter Herzog.

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Leumann, A., Fortuna, R., Leonard, T. et al. Tibiofemoral loss of contact area but no changes in peak pressures after meniscectomy in a Lapine in vivo quadriceps force transfer model. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 23, 65–73 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-014-3338-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-014-3338-1

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