COMPARATIVE COMPUTER THOMOGRAPHIC (CT) ANGIOGRAPHIC STUDIES OF EXPERIEMTALLY-INDUCED OSTEOARTHRITIS (OA) OF THE KNEE JOINT IN SHEEP TREATED WITH PLATELETS-RICH PLASMA (PRP)

Knee joint OA was induced after removing half of the medial minuscule of the joint. For twelve weeks after the operation at 10 days interval, 5 ml of PRP was injected three times in the right knee joint. The left knee joint was used as a control, and 5 ml of saline was injected three times. Six weeks after the last application of PRP, angiograms of the two knee joints were performed, using spiral computed tomography (CT). The study was performed transversally from the middle of the femur to the middle of the tibia of the respective limb. The slides were 1.5 mm wide at 2 mm intervals. The structural changes in the two knee joints were studied and compared, as well as the degree of angiogenesis and the degree of recovery of the articular cartilage. It was found that a. Saphena lateralis and medialis, and a. genus media are of the utmost importance, especially in ruminants, as they are responsible for the blood supply to the knee joints. The use of PRP in sheep with experimentally induced OA of the knee joint has been shown to induce the formation of an additional vascular system in treated knee joints.