The purpose of this study was to evaluate the changes in knee synovial fluid of 19 dogs with experimentally-induced cranial cruciate ligament rupture, based on Pond & Nuki model. Synovial fluid was achieved and analyzed at 30 days postoperative time. Five animals had further synovial fluid evaluation at 90 days postoperatively. The characteristics observed were color, turbidity, density, pH, protein, fibrinogen, mucin clot, cell count and citology. The synovial fluid exhibited an inflammatory pattern during the postoperative observation time and joint effusion was observed. An increased number of nucleated cells and increased fibrinogen concentration were observed at 90 days when compared to 30 days after desmotomy. Although severely abnormal, an improvement of the mucin clot was observed at 90 days. It can be concluded that synovial fluid in this experimental model, showed inflammatory and no degenerative changes until 90 days postoperative.
Dog; synovial fluid; knee; cranial cruciate ligament
