Assessment of Knee Osteoarthritis Risk Following Canine Tibial Prosthetics (Pilot Experimental Morphological Study)

Abstract

Objective was to obtain preliminary data on the knee osteoarthritis risk following canine tibial prosthetics using one-stage osseointegration, external fixation and compression loading. Material and methods The study was carried out on 5 intact (controlgroup) and 3 experimental (experimental group) animals aged 1.8 ± 0.5 years with a body weight of 19 ± 1.2 kg. Osteotomy wasperformed at the boundary of the upper and middle third of tibia and a PressFit type construct implanted. A special device was usedfor bone fixation and compression loading of FN = 20 N. Paraffin sections of the articular cartilage and the underlying subchondralbone were used for histomorphometric examination. Results The zonal structure of the articular cartilage and cytoarchitectonics wereshown to be maintained in all experimental animals with insignificant destructive changes in the form of impaired homogeneity of theintercellular substance in the upper third of the surface zone. There was a two-fold decrease in the thickness of the calcified cartilage anda 1.9‑fold decrease in the thickness of the subchondral bone. The volumetric density of trabeculae in the subchondral bone decreased to22.31 ± 5.41 % in experimental animals and to 46.94 ± 1.94 % in controls. Complete absence of calcified cartilage and the subchondralbone were observed in one case with vessels and bone marrow pannus invading the noncalcified cartilage. Conclusion Structuralchanges in the contact zone of the articular cartilage and the subchondral bone seen in the knee following experimental canine tibialprosthetics indicated the risk of developing knee osteoarthritis © Stupina T.A., Emanov A.A., Kuznetsov V.P., Ovchinnikov E.N., 2021