The repair of major osteochondral defects in joint surfaces by neochondrogenesis with autogenous osteoperiosteal grafts stimulated by continuous passive motion. An experimental investigation in the rabbit.

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effects of continuous passive motion (CPM) on the chondrogenic potential of autogenous osteoperiosteal grafts to repair major osteochondral defects. A 3.5-mm-wide circular full-thickness defect was drilled in one medial femoral condyle of 55 adolescent New Zealand rabbits. A graft of periosteum from the proximal tibia was wrapped around a disc of bone from the same area (cambium layer of the periosteum facing outward), then press-fitted into the defect. The rabbits were treated by either immobilization (Imm) or intermittent active motion (IAM) for five weeks, or by continuous passive motion (CPM) for two weeks followed by IAM for three weeks. A control group (no osteoperiosteal graft in the defect) was also treated by CPM for two weeks and IAM for three weeks. At five weeks, hyaline cartilage was the predominant tissue in only 10% of the defects in the Imm, IAM, and control groups, compared with 70% in the CPM group (p less than .025). Bonding of the newly formed tissue to the adjacent cartilage was significantly better in the CPM group.