TITLE:
Complete Achilles Tenotomy: A New Improved Experimental Surgical Technique in Rats
AUTHORS:
Kelly Biancardini Gomes Barbato, Guilherme de Almeida, João da Costa, Libardo Rodriguez, Clara Raposo, Hanna Dias, Renata Paiva, Liszt Palmeira de Oliveira, Jorge Carvalho
KEYWORDS:
Achilles Tendon Rupture, Animal Experimentation, Wound Healing, Collagen, Elastic Tissue
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Animal Sciences,
Vol.8 No.1,
December
1,
2017
ABSTRACT: Rupture of the Achilles tendon is one of the most
frequent tendon injuries in humans. However, there is no standard surgical
technique thus far to reproduce complete rupture of this tendon in rats.
Surgical procedures were performed in Wistar rats under light microscopy, with
posterior longitudinal incision and preservation of the plantaris tendon. The
animals were sacrificed on 2nd and 8th postoperative week
and we used hematoxilin and eosin, picrosirius-red and Weigert’s resorcin-fuchsin to observe general
tendon healing. The mean operative time was one minute and 24 seconds.
Histological studies showed cellular proliferation and fibrillogenesis at two weeks, with
decreased amounts of cellularity and elastic fibers at the 8th week,
besides changes in structural organization of collagen fibers. The complete
Achilles tenotomy in rats, was improved under light microscopy and sparing the
plantaris tendon. This surgical
technique was simple and quick, showed signs of normal healing process, could
be easily reproducible, and triggered translational researches in this area.