• Journal of Korean Orthopaedic Sports Medicine
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.55-60
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• 2002

Purpose : To assess the change in the number of mechanoreceptors of posterior cruciate ligament(PCL) after transecting posterior cruciate ligament of the rabbit. Materials and Methods : We selected 10 skeletally-matured New Zealand white rabbits and one of the two posterior cruciate ligaments was transected and the other underwent sham-operation on each rabbit. Afterward, PCLs with synovium were obtained at femoral attach area in both knees in 20 weeks postoperatively, but in one of the cases, the transected PCL did not heal and had to be excluded from this study. Consequently, histologic examination of the ligament for the remaining 9 cases was done after being prepared with modified gold chloride stain. Results : The study showed a little bit more decrease in the number of mechanoreceptors in the transected group compared with that in the sham-operated group, but the number was statistically negligible. Conclusions : It is considered that the knee joint with injured PCL may still maintain proprioception since the decrease in the number of mechanoreceptors is not considerable, but further study on biomechanical role and function of mechanoreceptor of healed PCL is required.