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My daughter has this strange idea that if she donates her body to science after she dies, they can use it to make important discoveries about bones, joints, and muscles. This is important to her as she has had many orthopedic injuries in her younger years as an athlete. I can't see how this donation of her body is really going to advance science. I'd rather have a gravesite to visit. What do you think?
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Your daughter has a wonderful gift of generosity. If more people would donate vital organs and body parts to those in need, the world would be a better place. In some countries in Europe, donation is automatic unless you opt out. In the United States, it is quite the opposite.
And the need to advance research is very great as well. Many new orthopedic and other surgical techniques are tried and perfected first on animals. The next step in the process is to perform the same thing on cadavers (bodies preserved after death for study) before attempting them on live humans.
To give you a specific example that pertains to many athletes, a study was done using cadavers to map out the blood supply to the hip labrum. The labrum is a thick rim of fibrous cartilage around the edge of the hip acetabulum (socket).
It is there to increase the depth of the hip socket. The labrum also provides a seal to help protect the hip articular (joint surface) cartilage. This is an area that is frequently damaged or injured in athletes.
Researchers from the Iran University of Medical Sciences teamed up with researchers from the Department of Anatomy at the Legal Medicine Research Center in Tehran (Iran) to perform this study. They examined the hips of 35 cadavers. They used a special colored silicone that was injected into the blood vessels around the hip labrum.
The donor hips came from 28 cadavers ranging in age (at the time of death) from 20 to 50 years old. Cause of death was unknown but there was no damage to the hips and no sign of previous surgeries to the area.
Twenty-four hours after the silicon injections, they carefully took the hips apart and examined the blood vessels (now clearly visible from the injected dye). They found the beginning point (source) of the blood supply to the labrum and followed it to its insertion site into the hip joint capsule.
Beautiful color photos are provided to show the structures of the hip (e.g., bone, capsule, labrum). The blood vessels throughout the area show up as a green color in full detail. For the first time ever, the vascular ring pattern around the labrum is clearly seen. The authors describe the location and pattern of these blood vessels.
By finding the source of the blood supply to the hip acetabular labrum, these researchers were able to show that the blood vessels do NOT come from the joint capsule or the subchondral bone (layer of bone just underneath the cartilage).
Instead, there is a special layer of loose connective tissue between the hip joint capsule and the surface of the labrum (next to the capsule). This tissue lining contains a separate blood supply to the labrum now referred to as the periarticular vascular ring.
Knowing that injury to the labrum does not include damage to the blood vessels is an important finding for surgeons attempting to repair a torn labrum. This knowledge is essential as studies have also shown that repair (rather than removal) of a torn labrum yields the best results for patients with this type of injury.
On the basis of their findings, the researchers suggest taking a closer look now at current techniques used to repair a torn labrum. Every effort should be made to avoid damaging the periacetabular vascular ring.
It appears that if the loose connective tissue containing the vascular ring is not disrupted, then no damage is done to the labrum's vascular supply. Labral repair with preservation of this capsular-sided connective tissue will enhance healing.
And that is just one of many, many ways cadaver studies benefit athletes (and others)!
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