[Comparative study of the transplantation of vascular pedicle and traditional free tendon tissues]

The most frequent cause of failure after tendon transplantation is the formation of adhesions between the tendon graft and its surrounding tissues. In this study, the healing mechanism, adhesion formation and biomechanical properties of vascular pedicle and traditional free tendon grafts were compared in the rabbits. It was observed that the former remained normal histologically in healing process and had less adhesion formation; that of the latter underwent necrosis and was gradually replaced by new connective tissues, its adhesions were extensive and dense; and that the healing mechanism of the both tendon grafts at the anastomosed site were extrinsic, the biomechanical properties (rupture load and elastic stiffness) showed no statistically significant difference (P greater than 0.05). On the basis of these results, we believe that preserving of the blood supply of tendon graft is important for reducing the adhesion formation and improving the functional results.