Abstract
Aim: To compare the donor site morbidity after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction using ipsilateral and contralateral bone-patellar-tendon (BPT) autograft.
Patients and Method: 100 patients underwent ACL- reconstruction with autologous BPT graft between 1997 and 1999. ACL-reconstruction was performed using ipsilateral (n= 52) and contralateral (n= 48) BPT-autograft. The average follow-up was 39,2 months. Donor site morbidity was evaluated by using a questionaire, computerised historical data, KT-2000 measurments, Cincinnati- (CKS) and Tegner-Score.
Results: KT-2000 evaluation showed an average side to side difference of 0,6 mm in both groups. There were no significant differences between the two groups concerning CKS or Tegner-Score. In the ipsilateral donor knee, 59,6% of the patients had local tenderness, 69,2% kneeling-pain, 76,9% knee-walking-pain and 75% numbness. In the contralateral donor knee, 58,3% of the patients had local tenderness, 70,8% kneeling-pain, 70,8% knee-walking-pain and 85,4% numbness. In the ACL reconstructed knee 6,3% had local tenderness,6,3% kneeling-pain, 10,4% knee-walking-pain and 64,6% numbness.
There was one rupture of the patellar tendon and one patient with chronic patellar tendinitis.
Conclusion: The contralateral BPT graft appears to present no advantage over the ipsilateral as all symptoms concerning donor site morbidity are shifted from the injured into the healthy knee and return to activity is not more rapid.
The abstracts were prepared by Eleni Koutsoukou. Correspondence should be addressed to him at the Hellenic Association of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology (HAOST), 20, A. Fleming str, 15123 Marousi, Athens, Greece.
