The Relationship Between Increasing Intraarticular Pressures and Intraosseous Pressures in the Juxtaarticular Bones: An Experimental Investigation in Dogs

Abstract

The present experimental investigation of the relationship between intraarticular and intraosseous pressures was carried out in mongrel dogs. Under general anaesthesia simultaneous pressure measurements were performed in the femoral artery, the knee joint and the tibia and femur adjacent to the knee joint. The intraarticular pressure was increased by infusion of saline. Increase in the knee joint pressure caused an increase in the femoral intraosseous pressure, while the tibial intraosseous pressure remained unchanged. The pressure increase in the femur was most pronounced in dogs with intact epiphyseal plates. It is suggested that the rise in the femoral pressure was caused by compression of the venous drainage from the bone. Further evidence to support this suggestion was obtained from anatomical studies, intraosseous phlebography and experiments with selective venous compression.