Clinical and ultrasonographic study of using autogenous venous graft and platelet-rich plasma for repairing achilles tendon rupture in dogs

Abstract

The present article was aimed to assess the healing process of experimental entire rupture of Achilles tendon treated with various methods. The study was conducted on twenty-four healthy mature local breed dogs, which were randomly allocated in equal four experimental groups (6 of each). All dogs underwent complete Achilles tendon rupture and reconstructed as following: Group1 (control), animals were treated with tendorrhaphy only; Group 2, tendorrhaphy with platelet-rich plasma; Group 3, tendorrhaphy with a vein graft; and Group 4, the ruptured tendon was repaired with tendorrhaphy and augmented with vein and platelet-rich plasma. Dogs were monitored clinically and sonographically to evaluate tendon healing at 15, 30 and 60 days following the surgery. By comparison with the control group, the utilizing of plasma, with or without vein graft, enhanced the healing process of the induced rapture. Clinically, animals showed a fastest weight bearing and ultrasound imaging revealed increased echogenicity of fibrotic tissue. Clinically, the vein-platelet-rich plasma treated animal’s demonstrated early weight bearing, while animal treated with plasma showed earlier improvement in fiber pattern echogenicity. Furthermore, the using of vein graft for injury repair increased the repair process and the healing was earlier than that in the control group. In conclusions, our results suggested that the using of platelet-rich plasma with or without vein graft could enhance tendon healing and improve its mechanical function, which might be attributed to the synergistic effect of platelet-rich plasma with the vein graft.