[An experimental study on accelerating regeneration of meniscus with synovial flap implant in the rabbit knee]

Twenty-three rabbits were used in this study. In each animal the right knee was used for experimental group in which the synovial flap was implanted in after meniscectomy and the left knee for control group, in which only meniscectomy was done. Samples were collected 3, 6, 12, and 24 weeks after operation. The regenerated meniscus in two groups were evaluated grossly. Histologically by light microscopy, and subcellularly by transmission electron microscopy. It was showed that the regenerated meniscus of the experimental group were better than those of the control group both morphologically and qualitatively. In the experimental group fibrocartilage cells appeared 6 weeks after operation, cartilage cells became more mature at 12 weeks, and articular cartilage was normal at 24 weeks. The result shows that the synovial flap implant obviously accelerates the meniscus regeneration and has an affect on prevention articular cartilage from degenerating.