Reconstruction of anterior cruciate ligament with carbon fiber. An experimental study on pigs.

During a follow-up period of 16 weeks in 18 pigs, macroscopical and histological studies revealed invasion of fibroblasts and mesenchymal cells around the carbon fiber prosthesis inserted to replace the ACL but scarce tissue ingrowth into the prosthesis proper. There was no adherence of the carbon ligament onto the bony channels. The peak tensile strength of the reconstructed ligament was about one third of the paired normal ACL ligament during the 16 week experiment.