Introduction. Simultaneous correction of knee varus malalignment with medial open wedge high tibial osteotomy (MOWHTO) combined with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery aims to address symptomatic unicompartmental osteoarthritis in addition to restore knee stability in order to improve outcomes. The aim of this study is to present at least 5 years results of 32 patients who underwent simultaneous knee realignment osteotomy with ACL surgery. Methods. Patients with symptomatic instability due to chronic ACL deficiency or failed previous ACL surgery together with a varus malalignment of ≥6°, previous medial meniscectomy and symptomatic medial compartment pain who were treated with MOWHTO combined with ACL surgery were enrolled. ACL surgery was performed with the anatomical single bundle all-inside technique using TightRope. ®. RT (Arthrex, Naples, FL, USA) and MOWHTO using TomoFix. ®. medial high tibia plate (DePuy Synthes, Raynham, MA, USA) in all cases. Patients were evaluated preoperatively and at 6 months, 12 months and annually postoperatively using the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), Oxford Knee Score (OKS) and Euroqol's Visual Analogue Score (VAS) for pain. Results. 32 patients (22 men and 10 women) with a mean age of 41.2 years and mean BMI of 28.6 kg/m. 2. , underwent the combined procedures. Tibiofemoral neutral re-alignment was achieved in all patients with HTO. Complete subjective and objective scores have been obtained in 84.4% of patients with at least 5 years of follow-up (mean 8.7 years). An improvement in total KOOS of 27.1 points (p<0.003), OKS of 15.1 (p<0.003) and VAS for pain of 24.7 points (p<0.001) were detected. No ACL reconstruction failure was noted. Complications consisted of one superficial wound infection and one delayed union. Plate removal was needed in 20 (62.5%) patients due to pes anserinus pain. Conclusions. Simultaneous restoration of coronal knee axis by applying HTO and stability by ACL reconstruction/revision were reported to offer excellent improvement in early outcomes in patients with ACL rupture and symptomatic unicompartmental osteoarthritis. The combined procedure requires careful pre-operative planning and is therefore technically challenging. However, by restoring the neutral axis and providing stability, it represents a good joint preserving alternative to arthroplasty for active middle-aged patients

Purpose of study. To determine whether cycles of pivot shift testing prior to anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction alters metabolite levels in synovial fluid. Method. Testing for pivot shift is a standard aspect of the EUA prior to an ACL reconstruction. Teaching 2 trainees to perform the pivot test will result in the knee being pivoted 5 times. All cases were isolated ACL deficiency, without meniscal or chondral damage (n=3). Each knee had synovial fluid extracted under aseptic conditions following anaesthesia. The pivot shift test was then performed and demonstrated 5 times. After preparation of the knee for surgery, a second synovial fluid sample was extracted. The time between samples was 5 minutes. Synovial fluids were analysed using 500 MHz 1H NMR spectroscopy. Chemical shifts were referenced to known concentration NMR internal standard (TSP), peaks identified and peak integrals measured using the Bruker software Topspin 2.0. Results. NMR revealed 26 metabolite-specific peaks in synovial fluid spectra. Some specific metabolite concentrations varied in response to pivot shift testing. For example, we found increases of up to 94% lactate, 48% n-acetyl glycoproteins, 14% arginine, 44% alanine, 38% CH lipids and 45% valine levels in synovial fluid following pivot shifting. Conclusion. Our pilot data indicates that the metabolic profile of synovial fluid varies before and after pivot shift testing. The results suggest that low energy shear force in the ACL deficient knee, in the absence of meniscal or chondral damage, is sufficient to alter metabolite levels in the synovial fluid. This may represent the first indication of specific metabolites that change in response to altered biomechanical loading in the human knee

Introduction. Autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) is contra-indicated in a joint rendered unstable by a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). We present our experience of ACI repair with ACL reconstruction. Methods. Patients underwent arthroscopic examination and cartilage harvesting of the knee. A second operation was undertaken approximately six weeks later to repair the ruptured ACL with hamstring graft or Bone patella-Bone (BPB) and to implant the chondrocytes via formal arthrotomy. Three groups were assessed: Group 1: Simultaneous ACL Reconstruction and ACI; Group 2: Previous ACL Reconstruction with subsequent ACI repair; Group 3: Previously proven partial or complete ACL rupture, deemed stable and not treated with reconstruction with ACI procedure subsequently. Patients then underwent a graduated rehabilitation program and were reviewed using three functional measurements: Bentley functional scale, the modified Cincinnati rating system, and pain measured on a visual analogue scale. All patients also underwent formal clinical examination at review. Results. Those who underwent simultaneous ACL Reconstruction and ACI had a 47% improvement in Bentley functional scale, 36% improvement in visual analogue score and 38% improvement in the modified Cincinnati rating system. This is in contrast to only a 15% improvement in the modified Cincinnati rating system, 30% improvement in Bentley functional scale, and 32% improvement in visual analogue score in patients who had ACI repair after previous ACL reconstruction. 68% of patients who had the procedures simultaneously rated their outcome as excellent/good and 27% felt it was a failure. In contrast 38% of patients rated their outcome as a failure if they had ACI repair without reconstruction of ACL rupture. Conclusion. Symptomatic cartilage defects and ACL deficiency may co-exist in many patients and represent a treatment challenge. Our results suggest that a combined ACL and ACI repair is a viable option in this group of patients and should reduce the anaesthetic and operative risks of a two-stage repair. Patients with complete rupture of ACL despite being deemed stable performed poorly at review and our study suggests all complete ruptures regardless of stability should be treated with a reconstruction when performing an autologous chondrocyte implantation