Rheological Study of Viscosupplements and Synovial Fluid in Patients with Osteoarthritis

Abstract

A detailed rheological characterization of synovial fluid from 22 patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty and three commercially available viscosupplements was performed. The results showed that synovial fluid in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) exhibited a non-Newtonian shear thinning behavior and viscoelastic properties. Aspirates of the knees from the same individual show very different viscosity and viscoelasticity. Moreover, rheopectic behavior was observed in OA synovial fluid at 37 ºC.  All three viscosupplements exhibited a non-Newtonian shear thinning behavior.  The viscosupplement with crosslinked hyaluronic acid has higher viscosity than that with the non-cross-linked ones. Moreover, high molecular weight viscosupplements have greater viscoelasticity than low molecular weight viscosupplements.