Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are common knee ligament injuries. While generally successful, ACL reconstruction that uses a tendon graft to stabilize the knee is still associated with a notable percentage of failures and long-term morbidities. Preclinical research that uses small laboratory species (i.e., mice, rats, and rabbits) to model ACL reconstruction are important to evaluate factors that can impact graft incorporation or posttraumatic osteoarthritis after ACL reconstruction. Small animal ACL reconstruction models are also used for proof-of-concept studies for the development of emerging biological strategies aimed at improving ACL reconstruction healing. The objective of this review is to provide an overview on the use of common small animal laboratory species to model ACL reconstruction. The review includes a discussion on comparative knee anatomy, technical considerations including types of tendon grafts employed amongst the small laboratory species (i.e., mice, rats, and rabbits), and common laboratory evaluative methods used to study healing and outcomes after ACL reconstruction in small laboratory animals. The review will also highlight common research questions addressed with small animal models of ACL reconstruction.

中文翻译：

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前交叉韧带重建的小型实验动物模型。

前交叉韧带（ACL）损伤是常见的膝关节韧带损伤。虽然总体上是成功的，但使用肌腱移植物来稳定膝关节的 ACL 重建仍然与显着百分比的失败和长期发病率相关。使用小型实验室物种（即小鼠、大鼠和兔）模拟 ACL 重建的临床前研究对于评估 ACL 重建后可能影响移植物结合或创伤后骨关节炎的因素非常重要。小动物 ACL 重建模型也用于概念验证研究，以开发旨在改善 ACL 重建愈合的新兴生物学策略。本综述的目的是概述使用常见的小动物实验室物种来模拟 ACL 重建。该评论包括对膝关节比较解剖学的讨论、技术考虑因素，包括在小型实验室物种（即小鼠、大鼠和兔子）中使用的肌腱移植物类型，以及用于研究小型 ACL 重建后愈合和结果的常用实验室评估方法实验动物。该审查还将重点介绍 ACL 重建小动物模型解决的常见研究问题。