July 12, 2017
Mathieu Lecocq, « Study of biomaterials' biocompatibility, functional recovery and neural strategy in the context of rat total knee arthroplasty », Theses.fr, ID : 10670/1.6pe63h
Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is the reference treatment for severe osteoarthritis of the knee. This procedure requires heavy surgery which induce many deficits that persist for several years. Moreover, the prostheses have a limited lifetime due to chemical and mechanical stresses occurring in the biological environment. We tested in vivo the effect of the application of neuro-myelectrostimulation and/or high-salt diet on the biocompatibility of four orthopedic biomaterials. Our results show that these two elements could have a deleterious effect on the osseointegration, the integrity of the implants and the viability of the surrounding muscle cells. A prosthesis adapted to knee rat was designed to evaluated the ATG on the functional recovery and on the underlying nervous mechanisms. Our results show that knee osteoarthritis does not cause severe functional deficits. However, H-reflex is inhibited and III and IV afferences are desensitized. Animals with TKA revealed significant functional deficits that tend to recover over time but no impairment of the response of the afferent fibers III and IV was observed and the H reflex was maintained. These results emphasize the adaptation to the prosthesis and the presence of a phenomenon of recovery and not of compensation. Thanks to our innovative experimental approach, it is now possible to test in vivo the biocompatibility of new biomaterials and / or new treatments that have not yet been applied clinically.