Assessment of sheep knee joint after ACL replacement with Achilles tendon autograft and PLA-based implant

In this study, we propose a new approach in the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) replacement to provide stability and integration with bone tunnel. A polylactide (PLA)-based tubular implant was used to support the graft stabilization in femoral and tibial bones and to stimulate the healing process after (ACL) replacement on a sheep model. The ACL was replaced with an autologous Achilles tendon split graft. The tendon-to-bone healing in the model was analyzed after 6 and 12 weeks. Two groups of animals were compared, i.e. the group with the PLA-based implant used in the ACL replacement and the control group without the implant. The knee joints were mechanically and clinically evaluated, including the histopathology tests, to determine their stability and integrity. The results indicated that the bioresorbable PLA-based tubular implant may facilitate integration of the tendon graft with bone. Remodeling the allograft inside the implant improves the joint mobility from the first week of healing: no pathological changes were observed at the surgery site and in the animals' mobility. After 6 and 12 weeks of healing no significant changes in the mechanical parameters of the knee joint were observed, regarding the joint failure force, knee displacement, angular mobility range and joint stiffness. Relatively small values of the non-destructive tests in the knee displacement, already 6 weeks after surgery, indicated the early stabilization of the knee joint. The studies showed that the failure forces of knee joints after the ACL replacement with the PLA-based implant are lower than those of an intact joint, although their biomechanical features, including strain-at- failure, are similar. The biomechanical parameters of the knee joint were significantly improved due to the selected method of attaching the autograft ends to the femoral and tibial bone surfaces. After 12 weeks the intra-tunnel tendon-bone site with the PLA implant revealed the better tibia-femur joint mechanical stability, linear force-strain function and the decreasing strain-to-failure value, as compared to the control group.