Meniscectomy leads to an early increase in subchondral bone plate thickness in the rabbit knee

We evaluated morphological changes in the tibial bone after meniscectomy in a rabbit model. 15 rabbits subjected to a medial meniscectomy in the right knee and a sham-operation in the left. Histomorphometric parameters were evaluated in the subchondral bone plate and the underlying trabecular bone, 13, 25 and 40 weeks after surgery. 5 rabbits were used as unoperated controls. Meniscectomized knees had a thicker subchondral bone plate than sham-operated contralateral ones in 13 of the 15 rabbits (p = 0.01), but the trabecular bone showed no morphological differences. The meniscectomized knees of these rabbits developed mild osteoarthrosis, described elsewhere, which may have been partly due to a change in the mechanical properties of the thickened subchondral bone plate. Our findings suggest that the first bony response after meniscectomy occurs in the subchondral bone plate rather than in the trabecular bone.