The time from injury to surgery is an important factor affecting the mechanoreceptors at stump of torn anterior cruciate ligament

Abstract

Introduction: Restoration of proprioceptive function after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction is as important as mechanical stability. For this purpose, remnant of the torn ACL is the only source of nerve endings. Our aim in this study is to investigate the quantity of mechanoreceptors in the remnants ACL stumps in injured knees and to correlate that with the quantity in intact ACL in control cases.

Materials and methods: 48 patients that underwent ACL reconstruction between January 2016 and December 2018 as study group and 20 knees of 10 fresh frozen cadavers that as control group included in the study. Remaining stumps from study group and native ACL from control group were collected and investigated with S100 immunostaining. The type and number of mechanoreceptors in standardized areas was determined. The correlation of number of mechanoreceptors and time to surgery after ACL rupture were evaluated.

Results: The free nerve endings (FNE) and total number of mechanoreceptors were significantly lower in the study group as compared to the control group (p < 0.001 and p = 0.004, respectively). The number of Golgi-Mazzoni corpuscle decreased significantly with time (p = 0.041 CC: - 0.438).

Conclusion: The time from injury to surgery is an important factor affecting the mechanoreceptors at stump of torn ACL. The surgeon and patient should be aware of the fact that delay in surgery could lead to the loss of mechanoreceptors.