Abstract
The anterior cruciate ligament in 30 dogs was transected and repaired by simple suture. In every other dog, fibrin adhesive (Tisseel Kit, Immuno AG, Vienna, Austria) was applied to the transection area before suturing. The proportion of organized versus unorganized and inflammatory tissue formation was assessed histologically. At 3 weeks, the amount of normal organized collagenous tissue was reduced to 20 percent both without and with fibrin adhesive. After 6 weeks, a substantial increase of organized collagenous tissue was observed after suture only, which at 12 weeks reached about 70 percent of the total area. In contrast, repair with fibrin adhesive had at 12 weeks only 30 percent of normal collagenous tissue.