Department of Trauma Surgery & Emergency Department, University Medical Center Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
Experimental Trauma Surgery, Department of Trauma Surgery, University Medical Center Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
Biomed Res Int. 2020 Feb 27;2020:1242086. doi: 10.1155/2020/1242086. eCollection 2020.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of surface contouring of chondromalacic cartilage by bipolar radio frequency energy using different treatment patterns in an animal model, as well as examining the impact of the treatment onto chondrocyte viability by two different methods. Our experiments were conducted on 36 fresh osteochondral sections from the tibia plateau of slaughtered 6-month-old pigs, where the thickness of the cartilage is similar to that of human wrist cartilage. An area of 1 cm was first treated with emery paper to simulate the chondromalacic cartilage. Then, the treatment with RFE followed in 6 different patterns. The osteochondral sections were assessed for cellular viability (live/dead assay, caspase (cell apoptosis marker) staining, and quantitative analysed images obtained by fluorescent microscopy). For a quantitative characterization of none or treated cartilage surfaces, various roughness parameters were measured using confocal laser scanning microscopy (Olympus LEXT OLS 4000 3D). To describe the roughness, the Root-Mean-Square parameter (Sq) was calculated. A smoothing effect of the cartilage surface was detectable upon each pattern of RFE treatment. The Sq for native cartilage was Sq = 3.8 ± 1.1 m. The best smoothing pattern was seen for two RFE passes and a 2-second pulsed mode (B2p2) with an Sq = 27.3 ± 4.9 m. However, with increased smoothing, an augmentation in chondrocyte death up to 95% was detected. Using bipolar RFE treatment in arthroscopy for small joints like the wrist or MCP joints should be used with caution. In the case of chondroplasty, there is a high chance to destroy the joint cartilage.
本研究旨在评估使用不同处理模式的双极射频能量对软骨软化症软骨表面轮廓的质量，以及通过两种不同方法检查处理对软骨细胞活力的影响。我们的实验是在 36 个来自屠宰 6 个月大猪的胫骨平台的新鲜骨软骨切片上进行的，其软骨厚度与人类腕骨软骨相似。首先用砂纸处理 1cm 区域以模拟软骨软化症软骨。然后，以 6 种不同的模式进行 RFE 处理。使用活/死检测、半胱天冬酶（细胞凋亡标记）染色和荧光显微镜获得的定量分析图像评估骨软骨切片的细胞活力。为了对无处理或处理后的软骨表面进行定量描述，使用共聚焦激光扫描显微镜（Olympus LEXT OLS 4000 3D）测量各种粗糙度参数。为了描述粗糙度，计算均方根参数（Sq）。在每种 RFE 处理模式下都可以检测到软骨表面的平滑效果。天然软骨的 Sq 为 Sq = 3.8 ± 1.1μm。两次 RFE 传递和 2 秒脉冲模式（B2p2）的最佳平滑模式的 Sq = 27.3 ± 4.9μm。然而，随着平滑度的增加，检测到软骨细胞死亡增加到 95%。在腕关节或 MCP 关节等小关节的关节镜下使用双极 RFE 治疗应谨慎使用。在软骨成形术中，有很大的可能会破坏关节软骨。
