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Published on: June 12, 2019
Reliability and validity of a novel muscle contusion device
Nicole M McBrier1, Thomas Neuberger, Nori Okita
1The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. nmm13@psu.edu
Context:
Many models have been employed to replicate skeletal muscle injury associated with trauma; however, most are restricted to 1 level of severity.
Objective:
To create and validate an injury-producing device that could generate multiple levels of injury severity.
Design:
Validation study.
Patients Or Other Participants:
Twenty-six male Wistar rats, 3 to 4 months old.
Intervention(S):
A contusion device was developed and its ability to deliver consistent impacts was validated alone and in the presence of an experimental animal. A free-falling mass (267 g) was adjusted to the desired height (40, 50, 60, or 70 cm) and then dropped.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
Peak load, peak displacement, impulse, energy, and velocity peak were measured. Injury severity was determined using magnetic resonance imaging.
Results:
Outcome measures observed from the device alone were different by height (F(18,136) = 21.807, P < .001, 1-beta = 1.0). Outcomes using the experimental animals were also dependent on height (F(14,102) = 68.679, P < .001, 1-beta = 1.0). Linear regression analyses indicated that height accounted for 17% to 89% of the variance.
Conclusions:
Mild to moderate and moderate to severe injuries can be replicated with this device, which will be useful in evaluating clinical treatments on acute muscle injury.
