HISTOLOGICAL AND STRUCTURAL STUDY OF THE ADHESIVE TISSUE IN KNEE FIBROARTHROSIS - A CLINICAL-PATHOLOGICAL CORRELATION

In fibroarthrosis of the knee, it is still unknown if joint range of m otion is affected by anatomopathological differences in adhesive tissu e, such as tissue maturity, location, and quantity. A retrospective st udy of 78 patients who underwent arthoscopic arthrolysis was performed to determine a correlation between location of adhesions and preopera tive range of motion (ROM). In another 17 patients, a histological and structural evaluation of adhesive tissue was performed. Based on vasc ularization, number and shape of cells, and collagen fiber orientation , the adhesive tissue was classified into three groups: low, medium, a nd high maturity. Preoperative joint ROM and the time of onset of join t stiffness was correlated with the degree of adhesion tissue maturity . A strong and statistically significant correlation between the locat ion of adhesions and joint restriction was found. However, histologica l and structural evaluation showed no correlation between the degree o f tissue maturity, the time of onset of joint stiffness, and the amoun t of joint ROM.