Rabbits knee joints which had been immobilized for only 2 weeks regained motion during the first 2 months of remobilization. Histologically, joint tissues were normal. Only 9 of the 14 rabbits immobilized for 6 weeks regained normal or partial knee motion. Animals that regained knee motion generally did so during the first 4 months of remobilization. There are 2 types of repair of the damaged cartilage; replacement by fibrocartilage and proliferation of chondrocytes. Normal chondrocyte alignment and normal collagen fibril orientation was not restored. Repaired cartilage did not withstand normal joint stress.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Finsterbush et al. (1975) studied this question.