Establishment of an Animal Model for Post-traumatic Myositis Ossificans of the Quadriceps Femoris / 中国运动医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To establish the animal model of traumatic myositis ossificans through striking the quadriceps muscle of rabbits repeatedly.Methods Nine white adult New Zealand rabbits were selected,as their left lower limbs were used as the model group and the right lower ones served as controls.The left hind limbs were stricken by a 0.25 kg ball falling from a height of 100 cm every 3 days for and then immobilized with the knee in extension,while the right knees were immobilized in the same way without striking.The rabbits were sacrificed at the 4th,6th and 8th weeks respectively.The swelling,local physical signs and pathological changes of the heterotopic ossification had been assessed.Results The swelling of left quadriceps was obvious,with progressively stiffness of the left knees accompanied by distinctly palpable indurations,while in the right hind limbs,the joint was stiff but without indurations.The imaging examination showed the ossification began to appear in the impact sites of the model group at the 4th,6th and 8th weeks.The hematoxylin-eosin staining demonstrated that there was obvious cartilage or bone formation in the muscle tissues of the left quadriceps at the 8th weeks.Conclusion An animal model of post-traumatic myositis ossificans can be successfully established in rabbits through beating their quadriceps repeatedly.