Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Cruciate ligaments are the core of the knee joint, which can guide physical activity and limit non-physiological functions of the joint. The anterior cruciate ligament is especially important, and anterior cruciate ligament injury has become the hotspot in sports medicine.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the achievements on the physiological functions, injury mechanism and tissue-engineered materials used in the repair of anterior cruciate ligament.
MEHTODS: A computer-based search was conducted in PubMed and VIP databases for articles published from January 1990 to February 2011 related to tissue engineering progress in anterior cruciate ligament, biomechanical analysis of tendon scaffold, biomaterials for tendon tissue engineering and tissue engineering technology in tendon repair. The keywords were “anterior cruciate ligament, biological materials, damage, treatment” in Chinese and English. 102 articles were retrieved.
REUSLTS AND CONCLUSION: Tissue engineering rehabilitation measures for anterior cruciate ligament injury have developed greatly. However, from the view of material selection, single graft materials with many deficiencies are not conductive to ligament rehabilitation. Composite materials can make up the deficiencies of single materials in biocompatibility, degradation rate, biomechanical properties, and lack of toughness. In addition, functional and structural processing of tissue engineering materials is necessary, which can provide a good environment for cell adherence, growth and differentiation. Meanwhile, advances in genetic technology and new materials can meet the need for rehabilitation of anterior cruciate ligament to a greater extent.