Treatment of experimentally induced anterior cruciate ligament ruptures with musculus peroneus longus and musculus tibialis cranialis tendons in goats: Radiographic, arthroscopic and histopathological evaluations

Anterior cruciate ligament ruptures which constitutes a large part of the posterior extremity lameness is an important disease in veterinary medicine. Several methods have been described for the treatment of anterior cruciate ligament ruptures, intraarticular, extraarticular and osteotomy techniques. Autogenous or synthetic materials are preferred for intraarticular technique. For intraarticular stabilization, autografts such as skin, fascia lata, ligament, bone-patellar ligament and tendon are used. In this experimental study, two different autografts Musculus Peroneus Longus (MPL) and Musculus Tibialis Cranialis (MTC) were used in the treatment of anterior cruciate ligament ruptures using intraarticular stabilization method. Twelve adult female goats were divided into two main groups. All subjects underwent physical and radiographic examinations of the right and left knee joints before operation. Physical, radiological and arthroscopic examinations were performed up to the sixth month after operation. At the end of six months, all subjects were euthanized and a macroscopic and microscopic examination of the knee joint was performed. Intraarticular stabilization of MPL and MTC tendon autogenous grafts in the treatment of anterior cruciate ligament rupture was evaluated physically, radiographically, arthroscopically, macroscopically and histopathologically and the results obtained producedno complications during the six months of anterior cruciate ligament ruptures and were usable. As a result, arthroscopicall and histopathological findings proved that the autografts used can be converted to cruciate ligament and used easily. Key words: Goat, anterior cruciate ligament, intraarticular stabilization, autograft, arthroscopy.