Administración de factores exógenos de crecimento en la lesión de ligamento…

"Efectos de la administración de factores exógenos de crecimento en las propiedades biomecánicas de la lesión tipo alargamiento del ligamento anterior cruzado con desgarro parcial."

Eiji Kondo, MD, PhD*, Kazunori Yasuda, MD, PhD*,, Masanori Yamanaka, RPT, PhD, Akio Minami, MD, PhD and Harukazu Tohyama, MD, PhD*

From the * Department of Sports Medicine & Joint Reconstruction Surgery, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan, the Department of Physical Therapy, Hokkaido University College of Medical Technology, Sapporo, Japan, and the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan

Background: No studies have been conducted to clarify the in vivo effect of growth factor application on healing in the injured anterior cruciate ligament.

Hypothesis: Administration of exogenous growth factors significantly increases the structural properties of the injured anterior cruciate ligament.

Study Design: Controlled laboratory study.

Methods: Thirty-six rabbits were randomly divided into 4 groups of 9 animals each after an overstretched injury was made in the right anterior cruciate ligament. In group 1, no treatment was applied around the injured anterior cruciate ligament. In group 2, 0.2 mL fibrin sealant was applied around it. In group 3, 4 ng transforming growth factor–ß1 mixed with 0.2 mL fibrin sealant was applied. In group 4, 20 µg platelet-derived growth factor–BB mixed with 0.2 mL fibrin sealant was applied. Each rabbit was sacrificed at 12 weeks after the surgery. In addition, 9 knees randomly harvested from all the left knees were used to obtain normal control data. The femur–anterior cruciate ligament–tibia complex specimens were biomechanically and histologically evaluated.

Results: Concerning the maximum load and the stiffness, group 3 was significantly greater than groups 1 and 2, whereas there were no significant differences among groups 1, 2, and 4. Groups 1, 2, 3, and 4 were significantly lower than the control group.

Conclusions: The application of 4 ng transforming growth factor–ß1 significantly enhances healing in the injured anterior cruciate ligament.

The American Journal of Sports Medicine 33:188-196 (2005).