The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Vol 77, Issue 11 1682-1691, Copyright © 1995 by Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc
Effects of local injection of corticosteroids on the healing of ligaments. A follow-up report
ME Wiggins, PD Fadale, MG Ehrlich and WR Walsh
Department of Orthopaedics, Brown University School of Medicine, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence 02903, USA.
One hundred and one skeletally mature New Zealand White rabbits were used
to study the long-term effects of a single injection of corticosteroid on
the biomechanical, histological, and biochemical properties of
ligament-healing. Two steroid doses were studied, as previously described.
The injections were made into a fascial pocket immediately after
transection of the ligament. The animals were killed forty-two and
eighty-four days after the injury. In our previous investigation, in which
we examined the early (inflammatory and proliferative) phases of
ligament-healing, the specimens that had been injected with a dose of
steroids equivalent to that given to humans demonstrated significantly
inferior biomechanical properties and histological organization relative to
controls that had not received an injection. In the current study, we
examined the later (remodeling and maturation) phases of ligament-healing
and found that the tensile strength (the ultimate stress) of the specimens
that had been injected with the steroids returned to a value that was equal
to that of the controls that had not received an injection; however, the
peak load of the specimens that had been injected with steroids remained
inferior to that of the controls. This was accompanied by a lag in the
histological maturation.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us 
Technorati What's this?
