Bovine xenograft collateral ligament replacement in the dog

A study of the use of glutaraldehyde-stabilized bovine xenograft material as a collateral ligament replacement in 16 dogs has been done. Six xenograft implant complexes harvested 4 months postoperatively failed in tension at 772.2 +/- 463.5 versus 799.7 +/- 162.7 N (+/- 1 SD) for controls (p greater than 0.05, paired t test). Histologic evaluation in 10 dogs after implants of up to 1 year duration demonstrated a progressive invasion of the xenograft by host tissues. Xenograft remnants were easily identifiable at 1 year. The host tissues invaded in parallel to the passive collagen scaffolding of the xenograft and consisted of vessels and fibroblastic elements that produced collagen of host origin.