OBJECTIVE: To study the morphology in the rabbit's knee joint after the reparation of a defect in the osteochondral's standardized with suture wire polidioxanone, proceeded a criation of one osteochondral's defect in the medial condyle femoral in 80 rabbit's knees, albinos, males, aged between 5 and 8 months and weight between 2600 and 3000g. METHODS: The animals were distributed into 2 groups with following by 7 and 42 days and submitted to the technique A (resection and withdrawal of osteochondral's fragment in the medial condyle femoral and replacement with suture wire monofilament absorbable polidioxanone - PDX), technique B (resection and withdrawal of osteochondral's fragment in the medial condyle femoral and it is used as a autograft, after 180º rotation, in anteroposterior sense and synthesis in contralateral's knee with monofilament suture wire absorbable polidioxanone - PDX) or technique C (resection and withdrawal of osteochondral's fragment in the medial condyle femoral, leaving the standard defect empty in contralateral's knees in those which they were operated by techniques A or B) as control. RESULTS: They did clinical, radiographic, macroscopic and histological's studies in these 2 groups, showing the replacement of fragment or osteochondral's autograft, which facilities the perfect integration of fragment in the femoral condyle without shift or necrosis cartilaginous or osteal, in which knees were submitted by a simple resection of fragment, with following 42 days, there weren't cartilaginous formation in articular's surface having predispose to the osteophyte's formation, showing a significant relation between technique C and the presence of osteophytes. CONCLUSION: It comes to a conclusion that reconstitution of joint surface with replacement of fragment or osteochondral's graft fixed with suture wire PDX is feasible and it presented better result than a simple resection of the fragment.
Polidioxanone; Osteochondral fracture; Rabbit
