| [Objective] To investigate the injury effect of bipolar radiofrequency energy(RF) and high frequency electrotome(HF) on articular cartilage. [Method] 12 normal swine knees were divided into 6 groups:control group, HF group(40W), coagulation(setting 2) group, coagulation(setting 7) group, ablation (setting 2) group, ablation (setting 7) group. HE stain, toluidine blue staining, Safranin O staining, fluorescence stain and the content of GAG were observed to evaluate histological changes of cartilage, death rate of chondrocyte, depth of chondrocyte death, detection of GAG content. Also in 4 rabbits, each rabbit femoral condyle (one for each condyle as an experimental area) were randomly divided into four groups:control group, HF group(40W), coagulation(setting 7) group, ablation (setting 7) group. Animals were sacrificed respectively at 2,4 weeks after operation for histological examinations, long-term effects of RF and HF on cartilage were observed by Safranin O/light green staining. [Results] Death rate of chondrocyte in each experimental group were all higher than the control group (P<0.05), HF group and RF group has a significant difference (P<0.05); double fluorescent staining showed that coagulation(setting 7) group had a smaller depth of cell death than HF group and coagulation group (P<0.05), the other experimental groups had no significant statistical difference (P> 0.05); GAG content showed no significant difference between the experimental group and control group (P> 0.05). Animal testing shows HF group and coagulation group had no smooth cartilage surface, cartilage cells were notable reduced; the cracks and fiber cartilage-like tissue could be seen in these groups. Ablation group had a smooth cartilage surface, with only slight fibrosis. [Conclusion] The HF has a heavier thermal radiation injury on cartilage than RF; thermal radiation injury of RF is varying on different settings; right setting should be selected according to different situation. |
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