RADIOGRAPHIC CHANGES IN THE KNEE AFTER MENISCAL TRANSPLANTATION - AN EXPERIMENTAL-STUDY IN A SHEEP MODEL

Meniscal transplantation has been suggested as an alternative to total meniscectomy, which is now known to lead to long-term osteoarthritic degeneration of the knee joint. To evaluate the success of meniscal tr ansplantation, we divided 28 sheep knees into 4 groups: total meniscec tomy, allograft, autograft, and control. After a mean postoperative ti me of 21.4 months, we radiographed the excised knee joints in a loaded state and graded the radiographs for osteoarthritic changes. The knee s with meniscectomies, allografts, and autografts showed significantly more degenerative changes than the control knees. However, there were no statistically significant differences between these three groups. The results of this study suggest that meniscal allograft transplantat ion does not protect the knee against degenerative changes.