Under the microscope, the healed ligaments in pigs looked the same whether they had a collagen scaffold or not.
Scientific Claim
Histological analysis of ACL repair tissue in Yucatan minipigs showed no significant differences in tissue maturity index (17±4 vs 15±5, p=0.37), cellularity (7.3±1.8 vs 6.5±1.9, p=0.42), collagen organization (3.4±2.7 vs 4.5±2.0, p=0.37), or vascularity (5.6±0.5 vs 5.4±0.7, p=0.45) between collagen scaffold-augmented and suture-only repairs.
Original Statement
“The Ligament Tissue Maturity index was similar in the two groups (17±4 and 15±5 for the SCAFFOLD and SUTURE groups respectively, mean±SD, p=0.37). The cellularity subscores (7.3±1.8 vs 6.5±1.9; p=0.42), the collagen subscores (3.4±2.7 vs 4.5±2.0; p=0.37) and the vascularity subscores (5.6±0.5 vs 5.4±0.7; p=0.45) between the SCAFFOLD and SUTURE groups, respectively, were not significantly different.”
Evidence Quality Assessment
Claim Status
appropriately stated
Study Design Support
Design supports claim
Appropriate Language Strength
definitive
Can make definitive causal claims
Assessment Explanation
The claim precisely reports the numerical results and p-values from histological analysis without implying causation or human relevance.
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (1)
Collagen scaffold supplementation does not improve the functional properties of the repaired anterior cruciate ligament