Experimental transplantation of small joints by microvascular anastomoses.

Metacarpophalangeal joints in dogs were transplanted with microvascular anastomoses. Some were transplanted as half-joints, others as whole joints, and these dogs were followed for up to 5 1/2 months. When a half-joint was transplanted within the foot, the joint movement became restricted but the vascularized half-joints were well preserved with only slight damage and well-preserved epiphyseal plates--compared to severe damage of the articular cartilage and destruction of the epiphyseal plates in the non-vascularized joint transplants. Vascularized whole joint transplants within the foot were indistinguishable macroscopically and microscopically from normal joints, and they had only a slight restriction of joint movement. They took up tetracycline from the circulation, demonstrating their viability.