The low permeability of healthy meniscus and labrum limit articular cartilage consolidation and maintain fluid load support in the knee and hip.

The knee meniscus and hip labrum appear to be important for joint health, but the mechanisms by which these structures perform their functions are not fully understood. The fluid phase of articular cartilage provides compressive stiffness and aids in maintaining a low friction articulation. Healthy fibrocartilage, the tissue of meniscus and labrum, has a lower fluid permeability than articular cartilage. In this study we hypothesized that an important function of the knee meniscus and the hip labrum is to augment fluid retention in the articular cartilage of a mechanically loaded joint. Axisymmetric hyperporoelastic finite element models were analyzed for an idealized knee and an idealized hip. The results indicate that the meniscus maintained fluid pressure and inhibited fluid exudation in knee articular cartilage. Similar, but smaller, effects were seen with the labrum in the hip. Increasing the fibrocartilage permeability relative to that of articular cartilage gave a consolidation rate and loss of fluid load support comparable to that predicted by meniscectomy or labrectomy. The reduced articular cartilage fluid pressure that was calculated for the joint periphery is consistent with patterns of endochondral ossification and osteophyte formation in knee and hip osteoarthritis. High articular central strains and loss of fluid load support after meniscectomy could lead to fibrillation. An intact low-permeability fibrocartilage is important for limiting fluid exudation from articular cartilage in the hip and knee. This may be an important aspect of the role of fibrocartilage in protecting these joints from osteoarthritis.

Changes in articular cartilage mechanics with meniscectomy: A novel image-based modeling approach and comparison to patterns of OA.

Meniscectomy is a significant risk factor for osteoarthritis, involving altered cell synthesis, central fibrillation, and peripheral osteophyte formation. Though changes in articular cartilage contact pressure are known, changes in tissue-level mechanical parameters within articular cartilage are not well understood. Recent imaging research has revealed the effects of meniscectomy on the time-dependent deformation of physiologically loaded articular cartilage. To determine tissue-level cartilage mechanics that underlie observed deformation, a novel finite element modeling approach using imaging data and a contacting indenter boundary condition was developed. The indenter method reproduces observed articular surface deformation and avoids assumptions about tangential stretching. Comparison of results from an indenter model with a traditional femur-tibia model verified the method, giving errors in displacement, solid and fluid stress, and strain below 1% (RMS) and 7% (max.) of the absolute maximum of the parameters of interest. Indenter finite element models using real joint image data showed increased fluid pressure, fluid exudation, loss of fluid load support, and increased tensile strains centrally on the tibial condyle after meniscectomy-patterns corresponding to clinical observations of cartilage matrix damage and fibrillation. Peripherally there was decreased consolidation, which corresponds to reduced contact and fluid pressure in this analysis. Clinically, these areas have exhibited advance of the subchondral growth front, biological destruction of the cartilage matrix, cartilage thinning, and eventual replacement of the cartilage via endochondral ossification. Characterizing the changes in cartilage mechanics with meniscectomy and correspondence with observed tissue-level effects may help elucidate the etiology of joint-level degradation seen in osteoarthritis.

Benefit of single-leaf resection for horizontal meniscus tear.

When treating a horizontal meniscus tear, the surgeon must decide whether to resect one or both leaves of the tear. We asked whether there is a biomechanical advantage to sparing one leaf when performing a partial meniscectomy for horizontal meniscus tear. We used pressure-sensitive film to measure the contact area, mean pressure, and peak pressure on the lateral tibial plateau of cadaveric sheep knees loaded to 2x body weight. For tears restricted to the posterior third, single-leaf resection decreased contact area by 40% compared with the intact case. Sparing one leaf was beneficial because resection of the second leaf reduced contact area an additional 15%. Similarly, mean pressure was increased 24% for single-leaf resection and an additional 27% for double-leaf resection. Peak pressure showed no differences with single- and double-leaf resections. For tears that span the entire meniscus, single-leaf resection reduced contact area by 59%, increased mean pressure by 55%, and increased peak pressure by 19%. Double-leaf resection in this situation did not change these values substantially, suggesting sparing one leaf offers no benefit over resecting both leaves with extensive horizontal meniscus tears.