ANALYSIS OF THE MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF THE POSTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT IN A PORCINE MODEL

INTRODUCTION: The knee has shown a significant increase in the frequency of injury due to sports practice. This increase and the improvement of surgical techniques of ligament reconstruction have led to a greater indication of this treatment to achieve a function close to normal. OBJECTIVE: To conduct a preliminary analysis of the ligament behavior. METHODS: The study consisted of the validation of an anatomical model of the pig, in which five models were subjected to mechanical tests. The data on the loads of the in situ model and the strains of the posterior cruciate ligament were collected. RESULTS: The analysis of the tensile load showed, at first, a nonlinear increase in stresses. Subsequently, the pig’s knee showed a relatively linear intermediate response until failure around 1,200 N. Strain × time showed a response of the posterior cruciate ligament, which also has a relatively linear response. CONCLUSION: We observed a linear behavior in the range of 1,000 to 5,000 microstrains in the strain of the posterior cruciate ligament. We suggest further studies to understand knee ligaments regarding their behavior in their function. Level of Evidence IV, Biomechanical Study.