Effects of radial shock waves on membrane permeability and viability of chondrocytes and structure of articular cartilage in equine cartilage explants

Abstract

Radial shock waves do not appear to structurally damage articular cartilage but do impact chondrocyte viability and membrane permeability. Caution should be exercised when extremely high periarticular pulse doses are used until additional studies can determine the long-term outcome of these effects and appropriate periarticular treatment regimens can be validated.

The effects of radial shock waves on the metabolism of equine cartilage explantsin vitro

“…Caution should be exercised when applying these results to the effects of focussed shock waves on cartilage, as focussed and radial shock waves have differing physical properties (Crowe et al 2004;Pauwels et al 2004). However, some cellular effects, such as increases in membrane permeability, have been reported with both focussed shock waves (Zhong et al 1999) and radial shock waves (Byron et al 2005). Unfortunately, studies directly comparing the physical properties of radial and focussed shock waves are scant.…”

“…Three cartilage explants 6 mm in diameter were arranged concentrically around the centre of the shock-wave fi eld and treated simultaneously for each treatment group. Distal metacarpal and metatarsal cartilage were used in a separate study (Byron et al 2005).…”

“…As this modality becomes more prevalent in the treatment of joint disease it is essential to understand what impact shock-wave energy has on articular tissues, particularly cartilage. Previous work has shown exposure of equine cartilage to radial shock waves increased the permeability of chondrocyte cell membranes and induced a mild decrease in the viability of cells (Byron et al 2005). Since shock waves have been previously shown to change cellular metabolism, may be associated with negative side-effects, and little is known about their effects on the metabolic function of chondrocytes, further study is warranted.…”

The potential utility of high-intensity ultrasound to treat osteoarthritis

“…E.g., a recent study demonstrated reduced proteoglycan and collagen type II production by cartilage cells when excessive ultrasound intensities (0.5e0.7 W/cm 2 ) were applied daily for 1 week 125 . While no observed structural damage to articular cartilage was reported in another study 130 , shock waves may increase the permeability of the chondrocyte cell wall and affect their viability 130,131 . Increased cell wall permeability and damage to the tissue matrix can be induced by cavitation 34,132 .…”

Chondrocytes treated with different shock wave devices

“…The application in the cartilage diseases, as osteoarthritis, is still preliminary. Only a few clinical and experimental researches have studied the effects of the shock waves and the radial waves on chondrocytes and articular cartilage in the human model [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] .…”