The effect of methylprednisolone on the morphology of rabbit knee joint after partial synovectomy

Correspondence: Ewa Skopińska-Różewska, Pathology Department, Warsaw Medical University, Chałubińskiego 5, 02-004 Warsaw, Poland. Email: [email protected] Abstract The research was done on 33 rabbits, which underwent partial synovectomy of the right knee. 24 of them were treated with Depo-Medrol twiceimmediately after and 7 days after surgery. The knee joints were taken 21 days after surgery, from sacrificed animals, and fixed in formaline. The histological examination of joint cartilage, synovium, fibrous membrane of the joint capsule and muscles of methylprednisolonetreated animals showed the absence of cellular reactions (giant cells and mononuclear cells) in synovium and fibrous membrane. In similar samples from the control group a lot of granulomas were present with foreign-body type giant cells and less or more intense infiltrations of mononuclear cells. This finding can explain previously reported good functional results of animals injected by DepoMedrol after knee surgery.