Effects of solvent preservation with or without gamma irradiation on the material properties of canine tendon allografts.

We studied the effects of solvent preservation with and without gamma irradiation on the material properties and morphology of canine tendons. Twenty-four paired tendons were harvested from both hind limbs of eight dogs. The tendons from the right legs were divided into three treatment groups of eight tendons each. In the first group, the tendons were subjected to solvent preservation for sterilization and drying (solvent group). In the second group, the tendons were treated in the same manner and then were sterilized by gamma irradiation (solvent/gamma group). The same treatments were applied to the tendons in the third group but in reverse order (gamma/solvent group). Tendons from the contralateral left legs were frozen immediately for use as controls for each corresponding treatment group. Histologically, the tendons treated with solvent, with or without gamma irradiation, had a more prominent wavy pattern in the collagen fibers than the control tendons. Mechanically, the tangent moduli for the solvent, solvent/gamma, and gamma/solvent groups were 58, 53, and 99%, respectively, of each contralateral control. The respective tensile strengths were 85, 39, and 86% of that of the contralateral control. The tendons in the solvent/gamma group underwent the most severe changes in material properties; the tendons in the gamma/solvent group changed the least. This suggests that gamma irradiation followed by solvent drying is the procedure of choice for the preservation of tendon allografts.