An experimental study of the myogenic component of joint contracture / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

Objective To differentiate the myogenic and arthrogenic components of knee contracture resulting from being immobilized in extension for 4 weeks.Method Ten rabbits were used as experimental animals. The right hindlimbs were immobilized with the knee in extension for four weeks, while the left served as controls. The range of motion (ROM) of both knees was measured before and after myotomy.Result In immobilized and control hindlimbs, knee mean ROM were 79.5° and 138.5° respectively. The gain of ROM after myotomy in immobilized and control hindlimbs were (8.7± 0.45)° , (11.6± 0.58)° respectively. Only 14.75％ of the limitation of motion in ROM was accounted for by the myotomy component. Conclusions After immobilized for 4 weeks, the ROM of knee was limited.However,the myogenic part was small and not different from normals.Because this study reports on only one time point,further investigations are needed.