Pie crusting of ligaments

Abstract

Total knee arthroplasty is a surgical technique for patients with significant meniscus tears and osteoarthritis. Pie-crusting of the ligaments may be required in some circumstances. Pie-crusting is a surgical procedure performed by making several incisions in ligaments and tendons with the goal of lengthening the ligament or tendon. This is done mostly on the lateral collateral ligament, but access to the medial side of the knee is required for the treatment of varus knees. There is currently insufficient information about the effect of pie-crusting on the medial collateral ligament (MCL). As a result, the goal of this research is to see how pie-crusting affects the MCL's biomechanical properties.

Porcine specimens were chosen in the studies because they have structural similarities to human knees. A total of 24 specimens were used in the experiment with 8 specimens in Group A (Intact), 8 specimens in Group B (6 stabs), 2 specimens in Group C (8 stabs) and 6 specimens in Group D (10 stabs).

Using the student's t-test, it was found that Groups A, B and D did not differ significantly (p > 0.05). As a result, many stabs and the different layout of stabbing will be required to see meaningful changes in the MCL's biomechanical properties.