Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 16, 2026
Anterior Cruciate Ligament Transection and Synovial Fluid Lavage in a Rodent Model to Study Joint Inflammation and Posttraumatic Osteoarthritis
Published on: September 2, 2025
An experimental study to compare inflammatory response due to liquid or gas joint distension in horses submitted to
Renata Bello Rossetti1, Cristina de Oliveira Massoco, Ana Carolina Alves Penna
1Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, USP, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Purpose:
To assess comparatively the inflammatory response that follows CO(2) or Ringer's lactate joint capsular distension of horses submitted to experimental arthroscopy
Methods:
Each animal was submitted to a bilateral tarsocrural arthroscopy employing gas distention in one joint and fluid distention in the contralateral joint. Synovial fluid was evaluated at 0, six, 12, 24 and 48 hours post-operative.
Results:
The use of CO(2) for arthroscopy causes an acute and mild synovitis alike to the liquid capsular distension, showing similar synovial fluid increase of leukocytes, TP, and TNF-α. Although synovial fluid PGE(2) content was higher in joints submitted to CO(2) distension, lower levels of hemoglobin and leukocytes oxidative burst after surgery indicates that CO(2) arthroscopy decreased intra-articular bleeding and activation of infiltrating leukocytes.
Conclusions:
The use of CO(2) for arthroscopic examination causes acute and mild synovitis that is similar to the effects caused by the liquid capsular distension. CO2 also seems to decrease intra-articular bleeding and activation of leukocytes.
