Background. Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction with concomitant meniscal injury occurs frequently. Meniscal repair is associated with improved long-term outcomes compared to resection but is also associated with a higher reoperation rate. Knowledge of the risk factors for repair failure may be important in optimizing patient outcomes. Purpose. This study aimed to identify the patient and surgical risk factors for meniscal repair failure, defined as a subsequent meniscectomy, following concurrent primary ACL reconstruction. Methods. Data recorded by the New Zealand ACL Registry and the Accident Compensation Corporation, the New Zealand Government's sole funder of ACL reconstructions and any subsequent surgery, was reviewed. Meniscal repairs performed with concurrent primary ACL reconstruction was included. Root repairs were excluded. Univariate and multivariate survival analysis was performed to identify the patient and surgical risk factors for meniscal repair failure. Results. Between 2014 and 2020, a total of 3,024 meniscal repairs were performed during concurrent primary ACL reconstruction (medial repair = 1,814 and lateral repair = 1,210). The overall failure rate was 6.6% (n = 201) at a mean follow-up of 2.9 years, with a failure occurring in 7.8% of medial meniscal repairs (142 out of 1,814) and 4.9% of lateral meniscal repairs (59 out of 1,210). The risk of medial failure was higher in patients with a hamstring tendon autograft (adjusted HR = 2.20, p = 0.001), patients aged 21–30 years (adjusted HR = 1.60, p = 0.037) and in those with cartilage injury in the medial compartment (adjusted HR = 1.75, p = 0.002). The risk of lateral failure was higher in patients aged ≤ 20 years (adjusted HR = 2.79, p = 0.021) and when the procedure was performed by a surgeon with an annual ACL reconstruction case volume of less than 30 (adjusted HR = 1.84, p = 0.026). Conclusion. When performing meniscal repair during a primary ACL reconstruction, the use of a hamstring tendon autograft, younger age and the presence of concomitant cartilage injury in the medial compartment increases the risk of medial meniscal repair failure, whereas younger age and low surgeon volume increases the risk of lateral meniscal repair failure

Objective: Bone-patellar tendon-bone (BPTB) and Achilles tendon allografts have been widely used in primary and revision ACL reconstructions showing good results comparable to those with autografts. The literature is sparce with regard to treatment and results of primary ACL reconstruction using Achilles tendon alone. The objective of this study was to present the clinical outcome of 50 consecutive primary ACL reconstructions with Achilles allograft utilizing interference screws fixation. Particular attention was dedicated to the incidence of tunnel widening and graft rejection phenomenon. Methods: Fifty consecutive patients had primary ACL reconstruction using fresh frozen Achilles tendon allografts from 1997 to 1998 at our institution. All grafts were sterilely harvested and none of them were subjected to secondary sterilization. All procedures were performed using interference screws fixation. A two-year minimum follow-up study was conducted in all of the patients: clinical and functional evaluation was performed according to the International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) by an independent examiner. All patients were evaluated using the KT-1000 arthrometer at 30 pounds of force: data was reported as an injured-to-uninjured difference. Lateral and 45° posteroanterior weightbearing radiographs were performed in each patient. The sclerotic margins of the tibial tunnel were measured at the widest dimension by a single observer and were compared with the initially drilled tunnel size. Results: According to the IKDC rating system, the overall outcome was normal or nearly normal in 96% of the patients. Forty-eight patients had a 30 pound side to side difference £ 5 mm. None of the patients had greater than a 10 mm difference. There was no evidence of graft rejection from an immune response or disease transmission. On the femoral side, all bone plugs appeared to be incorporated radiographically. The average allograft tibial tunnel enlargement at the widest level was 1.9 mm (0 to 5 mm) in the posteroanterior view and 1.7 mm (−0.2 to 5 mm) in the lateral view. Conclusion: Our results suggest that fresh frozen Achilles tendon allografts represent a good alternative in primary ACL reconstructions. No significant difference was seen in KT-1000 arthrometer measurements and clinical outcomes between patients with different tibial tunnel widening. We believe that fixation with interference screws could reduce the incidence of this undesirable phenomenon

Abstract

Introduction: Number of patients needing revision ACL surgery has increased more than 10 fold. Results of revision surgery are traditionally thought to be inferior to primary reconstruction. Aim of this paper is to describe results of revision surgery using a two-stage technique and compare it with results of primary ACL reconstruction. Materials and Methods: We studied 44 consecutive patients with revision ACL surgery. They had 10 ACL reconstruction elsewhere using autologous (34) or prosthetic ligament (10). Rrevision surgery was two staged. First of debridement and bone grafting and second stage after 3 mths of meniscal and chondral work along with ACL reconstruction using autograft. We compared this group with a similar cohort of patients with primary ACL surgery. Conclusions: A two-stage revision technique for revision ACL surgery allows accurate assessment & opportunity for the bone graft to heal to provide good bed for graft fixation at the time of second procedure

Purpose: The optimal autograft choice for ACL reconstruction remains controversial. Twelve recently published reviews comparing Patellar Tendon (PT) to Hamstring Tendon (HT) autografts in ACL reconstruction vary in their methodology, quality and application of sensitivity analyses. The present review and meta-analysis follows the rigorous methodology of the Cochrane Collaboration of Systematic Reviews and includes more recent trials that utilize modern surgical techniques and concealed randomization. Method: Randomized Clinical Trials (RCT) and Quasi-randomized Trials (QRCT) with a minimum 2-year follow-up comparing PT with HT autografts in patients undergoing primary ACL reconstruction were included. Non-English articles were professionally translated. Four electronic databases were searched from 1969-present. Bibliographies and proceedings of major orthopaedic meetings were handsearched. Two teams of investigators independently reviewed all citations, selected relevant studies, extracted the data and assigned quality scores. Consensus was achieved within and between each team for all stages of the review process. Results: Three hundred and twenty-six citations were originally identified with the search criteria. Following rigorous review, 26 relevant studies were identified. Nine were excluded due to missing information, inadequate follow-up, ongoing trials or low quality scores, leaving 17 studies included in the final analysis. Outcomes related to stability (Lachman test, instrumented laxity, and pivot shift) showed trends towards improved stability with PT reconstruction. When QRCTs were excluded there was a significant difference favoring PT reconstructions only with respect to the pivot shift test. All other outcomes were similar between the PT and HT reconstructions including IKDC categories, anterior knee pain (trend in favor of HT), re-rupture rate, and activity levels. No information was available to distinguish between the outcome of acute and chronic reconstructions, long term information or validated patient based outcomes. Conclusion: The current literature fails to demonstrate significant differences in multiple outcomes comparing PT to HT reconstruction of the ACL. The overall quality of trials is questionable and fails to use validated patient based outcomes or sufficiently long-term results to assess the development of osteoarthritis

Purpose: To report the 2–5 year results of ACL reconstruction with doubled Tibialis anterior allograft. Method: Seventy-three patients who underwent primary ACL reconstruction with doubled tibialis anterior allografts with minimum 2 year follow-up were included in the study. Patients were assessed via telephone interview using the Lysholm knee score, Tegner activity score, and the subjective International Knee Documentation Committee rating. In addition, they were asked if they had failure of the ACL requiring revision or any other procedures such as repeat arthroscopy for meniscal surgery/articular cartilage. Statistical analysis using levene’s test and the T-test was used to assess outcomes of patients according to age and sex. Results: Sixty-four (88%) patients were available for follow-up. The mean age was 28.94 years (16–55). There were 33 males (51.6%) and 31 females (48.4%). The mean follow-up was 41.6 months (range 24–55 months). There were 2 (3%) complications, 1 patient suffered a DVT with subsequent PE, and 1 patient suffered a hardware problem. Four patients (6.3%) had failure of their graft and 6 patients (9%) required repeat arthroscopy. The mean Lysholm score was 91.75 (SD+/− 8.2), and the mean Tegner activity score was 5.4 (range 1–10). The mean IDKC was 88.94 (SD+/− 8.33). According to the IDKC score 58% of patients were rated as excellent, 27% as good, and 13% as fair and 2% as poor. There was no difference in outcome in patients under 30 compared to over 30 years. Males performed statistically better on the Lysholm and the IKDC scores (p 0.005 and 0.038 respectively) when compared to women. Conclusion: ACL reconstruction with Allograft Tibialis anterior tendon provided good functional results with a low failure rate at 2–5 years. There was no statistical difference in outcome between Patients under 30 years and those above 30 years. Males performed better on the Lysholm and the IDKC questionnaires

Aims

The aim of this study was to compare patient-reported outcomes (PROMs) following isolated anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR), with those following ACLR and concomitant meniscal resection or repair.

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) graft failure from rupture, attenuation, or malposition may cause recurrent subjective instability and objective laxity, and occurs in 3% to 22% of ACL reconstruction (ACLr) procedures. Revision ACLr is often indicated to restore knee stability, improve knee function, and facilitate return to cutting and pivoting activities. Prior to reconstruction, a thorough clinical and diagnostic evaluation is required to identify factors that may have predisposed an individual to recurrent ACL injury, appreciate concurrent intra-articular pathology, and select the optimal graft for revision reconstruction. Single-stage revision can be successful, although a staged approach may be used when optimal tunnel placement is not possible due to the position and/or widening of previous tunnels. Revision ACLr often involves concomitant procedures such as meniscal/chondral treatment, lateral extra-articular augmentation, and/or osteotomy. Although revision ACLr reliably restores knee stability and function, clinical outcomes and reoperation rates are worse than for primary ACLr.

Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2023;105-B(5):474–480.

Aims

There is limited information on outcomes of revision ACL reconstruction (rACLR) in soccer (association football) athletes, particularly on return to sport and the rate of additional knee surgery. The purpose of this study was to report return to soccer after rACLR, and to test the hypothesis that patient sex and graft choice are associated with return to play and the likelihood of future knee surgery in soccer players undergoing rACLR.

Abstract

The bone-patellar tendon-bone (BTB) autograft has a lower rate of graft failure but a higher rate of contralateral anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury after primary ACL reconstruction. Subsequent contralateral injury may be a marker of success of the BTB graft, but it is unclear whether the type of graft influences the rate of return to sport. This study aimed to compare the rates of return to weekly sport and return to preinjury activity levels between the BTB and hamstring tendon autografts following primary ACL reconstruction. Prospective data on primary ACL reconstructions recorded in the New Zealand ACL Registry between April 2014-November 2019 were analyzed. The primary outcome was return to weekly sport, defined as a Marx activity score of 8, at 2-year follow-up. The secondary outcome was return to preinjury activity level, defined as a post-operative Marx activity score that was equal or greater to the patient's preinjury Marx score. Return to sport was compared between the BTB and hamstring tendon autografts via multivariate binary logistic regression with adjustment for patient demographics. 4259 patients were analyzed, of which 50.3% were playing weekly sport (n = 2144) and 28.4% had returned to their preinjury activity level (n = 1211) at 2-year follow-up. A higher rate of return to weekly sport was observed with the BTB autograft compared to the hamstring tendon autograft (58.7% versus 47.9%, adjusted odds ratio = 1.23, p = 0.009). Furthermore, the BTB autograft had a higher rate of return to preinjury activity levels (31.5% versus 27.5%, adjusted odds ratio = 1.21, p = 0.025). The BTB autograft is associated with a higher return to sport and may explain the higher rate of contralateral ACL injury following primary ACL reconstruction

Arthrofibrosis is a less common complication following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction and there are concerns that undergoing early surgery may be associated with arthrofibrosis. The aim of this study was to identify the patient and surgical risk factors for arthrofibrosis following primary ACL reconstruction. Primary ACL reconstructions prospectively recorded in the New Zealand ACL Registry between April 2014 and December 2019 were analyzed. The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) database was used to identify patients who underwent a subsequent reoperation with review of operation notes to identify those who had a reoperation for “arthrofibrosis” or “stiffness”. Univariate Chi-Square test and multivariate Cox regression analysis was performed. Hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were computed to identify the risk factors for arthrofibrosis. 9617 primary ACL reconstructions were analyzed, of which 215 patients underwent a subsequent reoperation for arthrofibrosis (2.2%). A higher risk of arthrofibrosis was observed in female patients (adjusted HR = 1.67, 95% CI 1.22 – 2.27, p = 0.001), patients with a history of previous knee surgery (adjusted HR = 1.97, 95% CI 1.11 – 3.50, p = 0.021) and when a transtibial femoral tunnel drilling technique was used (adjusted HR = 1.55, 95% CI 1.06 – 2.28, p = 0.024). Patients who underwent early ACL reconstruction within 6 weeks of their injury did not have a higher risk of arthrofibrosis when compared to patients who underwent surgery more than 6 weeks after their injury (3.5% versus 2.1%, adjusted HR = 1.56, 95% CI 0.97 – 2.50, p = 0.07). Age, graft type and concomitant meniscal injury did not influence the rate of arthrofibrosis. Female sex, a history of previous knee surgery and a transtibial femoral tunnel drilling technique are risk factors for arthrofibrosis following primary ACL reconstruction

The bone-patellar tendon-bone (BTB) autograft is associated with difficulty kneeling following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction, however it is unclear whether it results in a more painful or symptomatic knee when compared to the hamstring tendon autograft. This study aimed to identify the rate of significant knee pain and difficulty kneeling following primary ACL reconstruction and clarify whether graft type influences the risk of these complications. Primary ACL reconstructions prospectively recorded in the New Zealand ACL Registry between April 2014 and November 2019 were analyzed. The Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) was analyzed to identify patients who reported significant knee pain, defined as a KOOS Pain subscale score of ≤72 points, and kneeling difficulty, defined as a patient who reported “severe” or “extreme” difficulty when they kneel. The rate of knee pain and kneeling difficulty was compared between graft types via univariate Chi-square test and multivariate binary logistic regression with adjustment for patient demographics. 4492 primary ACL reconstructions were analyzed. At 2-year follow-up, 9.3% of patients reported significant knee pain (420/4492) and 12.0% reported difficulty with kneeling (537/4492). Patients with a BTB autograft reported a higher rate of kneeling difficulty compared to patients with a hamstring tendon autograft (21.3% versus 9.4%, adjusted odds ratio = 3.12, p<0.001). There was no difference between graft types in the rate of significant knee pain (9.9% versus 9.2%, p = 0.49) or when comparing absolute values of the KOOS Pain (mean score for BTB = 88.7 versus 89.0, p = 0.37) and KOOS Symptoms subscales (mean score for BTB = 82.5 versus 82.1, p = 0.49). The BTB autograft is a risk factor for post-operative kneeling difficulty, but it does not result in a more painful or symptomatic knee when compared to the hamstring tendon autograft

Abstract. Introduction. Anterolateral procedures can reduce the risk of re-rupture after ACL reconstruction in high risk patients however, this effectiveness has never been evaluated in elite athletes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of lateral extra-articular tenodesis in reducing revision rates in ACL reconstructions in elite athletes. Methodology. A consecutive cohort of elite athletes between 2005 and 2018 undergoing ACLR reconstruction with or without modified Lemaire lateral extra-articular tenodesis were analysed. A minimum of 2 years of follow-up was required. The association between the use of LET and ACL graft failure was evaluated with univariate and multivariate logistic regression models. Results. 455 elite athletes (83% male; 22.5±4.7 years) underwent primary ACL reconstruction with (n=117) or without (n=338) a LET procedure. Overall, 36 athletes (7.9%) experienced ACL graft failure including 32 (9.5%) reconstructions without a LET and 4 (3.4%) with a LET. Utilization of LET during primary ACL reconstruction reduced the risk of graft failure by 2.8 times with 16.5 athletes needing to be treated with LET to prevent a single ACL graft failure. Multivariate models showed that LET significantly reduced the risk of graft rupture (RR=0.325; p=.029) as compared to ACL reconstruction alone after controlling for age at ACL reconstruction and gender. Including graft type in the model did not significantly change the risk profile. Conclusion. The addition of LET in elite athletes undergoing primary ACL reconstruction reduced the risk of undergoing revision by 2.8 times

Most previous studies investigating autograft options (quadriceps, hamstring, bone-patella-tendon-bone) in primary anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction are confounded by concomitant knee injuries. This study aims to investigate the differences in patient reported outcome measures and revision rates for quadriceps tendon in comparison with hamstring tendon and bone-patella-tendon-bone autografts. We use a cohort of patients who have had primary ACL reconstruction without concomitant knee injuries. All patients from the New Zealand ACL Registry who underwent a primary arthroscopic ACL reconstruction with minimum 2 year follow-up were considered for the study. Patients who had associated ipsilateral knee injuries, previous knee surgery, or open procedures were excluded. The primary outcome was Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) and MARX scores at 2 years post-surgery. Secondary outcomes were all-cause revision and time to revision with a total follow-up period of 8 years (time since inception of the registry). 2581 patients were included in the study; 1917 hamstring tendon, 557 bone-patella-tendon-bone, and 107 quadriceps tendon. At 2 years, no significant difference in MARX scores were found between the three groups (2y mean score; 7.36 hamstring, 7.85 bone-patella-tendon-bone, 8.05 quadriceps, P = 0.195). Further, no significant difference in KOOS scores were found between the three groups; with the exception of hamstring performing better than bone-patella-tendon-bone in the KOOS sports and recreation sub-score (2y mean score; 79.2 hamstring, 73.9 bone-patella-tendon-bone, P < 0.001). Similar revision rates were reported between all autograft groups (mean revision rate per 100 component years; 1.05 hamstring, 0.80 bone-patella-tendon-bone, 1.68 quadriceps, P = 0.083). Autograft revision rates were independent of age and gender variables. Quadriceps tendon is a comparable autograft choice to the status quo for primary ACL reconstruction without concomitant knee injury. Further research is required to quantify the long-term outcomes for quadriceps tendon use

Meniscal repairs are commonly performed during anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. This study aimed to identify the risk factors for meniscal repair failure following concurrent primary ACL reconstruction. Primary ACL reconstructions with a concurrent repair of a meniscal tear recorded in the New Zealand ACL Registry between April 2014 and December 2018 were analyzed. Meniscal repair failure was defined as a patient who underwent subsequent meniscectomy, and was identified after cross-referencing data from the ACL Registry with the national database of the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC). Multivariate Cox regression was performed to produce hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) to identify the patient and surgical risk factors for meniscal repair failure. 2041 meniscal repairs were analyzed (medial = 1235 and lateral = 806). The overall failure rate was 9.4% (n = 192). Failure occurred in 11.1% of medial (137/1235) and 6.8% of lateral (55/806) meniscal repairs. The risk of medial failure was higher with hamstring tendon autografts (adjusted HR = 2.00, 95% CI 1.23 – 3.26, p = 0.006) and in patients with cartilage injury in the medial compartment (adjusted HR = 1.56, 95% CI 1.09 – 2.23, p = 0.015). The risk of lateral failure was higher when the procedure was performed by a surgeon with an annual case volume of less than 30 ACL reconstructions (adjusted HR = 1.92, 95% CI 1.10 – 3.33, p = 0.021). Age, gender, time from injury-to-surgery and femoral tunnel drilling technique did not influence the risk of meniscal repair failure. When repairing a meniscal tear during ACL reconstruction, the use of a hamstring tendon autograft or the presence of cartilage injury in the medial compartment increases the risk of medial meniscal repair failure. Lower surgeon case volume increases the risk of lateral meniscal repair failure

Abstract. Methodology. Prospective single-surgeon case-series evaluating patients undergoing surgery by this technique. 76 cases (mean age of 33.2 years) who had primary ACL reconstruction with BTB or quadriceps tendon with bone block, were divided into 2 matched groups (age, sex and type of graft) of 38 each based on the method of femoral fixation used (interference screw or adjustable cortical suspension). Patients were followed up clinically and using PROMS from NLR with EQ-5D, KOOS, IKDC and Tegner scores. Complications and return to theatre were noted. Paired two-tailed student t-tests and Chi-square tests were employed for statistical analysis. Results. At a mean follow-up of 82 months, peri-operative mean EQ-5D VAS, EQ-5D Index, KOOS, IKDC and Tegner activity scores showed significant improvement (p<0.05), but no significant difference between the two groups (p>0.05). Mean graft length and diameter was 77mm and 9.3 respectively. Mean interval from injury to surgery was 10.5 months. 18(23.7%) patients had associated meniscal tear with 73.3 % undergoing repair. 10 cases (13.2 %) returned to theatre including, MUA for arthrofibrosis (n=2) and intra-substance graft failure (n=2). 3 cases had to be converted to interference screw fixation due to the tightrope cutting through from the femoral bone block as a result of a technical pitfall. Conclusion. Primary ACL reconstruction using adjustable cortical suspension on femoral side for BTB or quadriceps bone-block tendon graft is a safe technique with added advantages of 360 degree bone ingrowth and no screw in the femoral tunnel

External validation of machine learning predictive models is achieved through evaluation of model performance on different groups of patients than were used for algorithm development. This important step is uncommonly performed, inhibiting clinical translation of newly developed models. Recently, machine learning was used to develop a tool that can quantify revision risk for a patient undergoing primary anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction (https://swastvedt.shinyapps.io/calculator_rev/). The source of data included nearly 25,000 patients with primary ACL reconstruction recorded in the Norwegian Knee Ligament Register (NKLR). The result was a well-calibrated tool capable of predicting revision risk one, two, and five years after primary ACL reconstruction with moderate accuracy. The purpose of this study was to determine the external validity of the NKLR model by assessing algorithm performance when applied to patients from the Danish Knee Ligament Registry (DKLR). The primary outcome measure of the NKLR model was probability of revision ACL reconstruction within 1, 2, and/or 5 years. For the index study, 24 total predictor variables in the NKLR were included and the models eliminated variables which did not significantly improve prediction ability - without sacrificing accuracy. The result was a well calibrated algorithm developed using the Cox Lasso model that only required five variables (out of the original 24) for outcome prediction. For this external validation study, all DKLR patients with complete data for the five variables required for NKLR prediction were included. The five variables were: graft choice, femur fixation device, Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) Quality of Life subscale score at surgery, years from injury to surgery, and age at surgery. Predicted revision probabilities were calculated for all DKLR patients. The model performance was assessed using the same metrics as the NKLR study: concordance and calibration. In total, 10,922 DKLR patients were included for analysis. Average follow-up time or time-to-revision was 8.4 (±4.3) years and overall revision rate was 6.9%. Surgical technique trends (i.e., graft choice and fixation devices) and injury characteristics (i.e., concomitant meniscus and cartilage pathology) were dissimilar between registries. The model produced similar concordance when applied to the DKLR population compared to the original NKLR test data (DKLR: 0.68; NKLR: 0.68-0.69). Calibration was poorer for the DKLR population at one and five years post primary surgery but similar to the NKLR at two years. The NKLR machine learning algorithm demonstrated similar performance when applied to patients from the DKLR, suggesting that it is valid for application outside of the initial patient population. This represents the first machine learning model for predicting revision ACL reconstruction that has been externally validated. Clinicians can use this in-clinic calculator to estimate revision risk at a patient specific level when discussing outcome expectations pre-operatively. While encouraging, it should be noted that the performance of the model on patients undergoing ACL reconstruction outside of Scandinavia remains unknown

Abstract. Purpose. Since arthroscopic reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) started, the use of peroneus longus grafts for primary ACL reconstruction (ACLR) was never thought of as there is very scant literature on it. So, our study aims to compare the functional outcome and complications in patients with ACL injury managed by ACLR with peroneus longus tendon (PLT) and hamstring tendons (HT) respectively. Materials and Methods. Patients with 16–50 years of either gender presenting with symptomatic ACL deficiency were admitted for arthroscopic single bundle ACLR and allocated into two groups (PLT and HT) operated and observed. Functional scores (IKDC and Lysholm score), clinical knee evaluation, donor site morbidity (AOFAS score) and thigh circumference were recorded preoperatively and at six months, one year post-operatively. The same post-op rehabilitation protocol was followed in both groups. Results. 194 patients (hamstring n=96, peroneus n=98) met the inclusion criteria. There were no significant differences between the pre-op, six months post-op and one-year postoperative score between the hamstring and peroneus longus groups in the IKDC (p=0.356) and Lysholm knee score (p=0.289). The mean for the AOFAS was 99.05±3.56 and 99.80±0.70 in the PLT and HT group respectively showing no statistical difference, with a significant improvement in thigh muscle wasting among the PLT group at final follow-up (p<0.001). Conclusion. We observed similar knee stability, functional outcome and no obvious donor site morbidity among both groups and recommend that a PL graft may be a safe, effective, and viable option for arthroscopic single bundle ACL reconstruction

The purpose of this study is to assess the long term results of combined ACL reconstruction and unicompartmental knee replacements (UKR). These patients have been selected for this combined operation due to their combination of instability symptoms from an absent ACL and unicompartmental arthritis. Retrospective review of 44 combined UKR and ACL reconstruction by a single surgeon. Surgeries included both medial and lateral UKR combined with either revision ACL reconstruction or primary ACL reconstruction. Patient reported outcomes were obtained preoperatively, at one year, 5 years and 10 years. Revision rate was followed up over 13 years for a mean of 7.4 years post-surgery. The average Oxford score at one year was 43 with an average increase from pre-operation to 1 year post operation of 15. For the 7 patients with 10 year follow up average oxford score was 42 at 1 year, 43 at 5 years and 45 at 10 years. There were 5 reoperations. 2 for revision to total knee arthroplasty and 1 for an exchange of bearing due to wear. The other 2 were the addition of another UKR. For those requiring reoperation the average time was 8 years. Younger more active patients presenting with ACL deficiency causing instability and unicompartmental arthritis are a difficult group to manage. Combining UKR and ACL reconstruction has scant evidence in regard to long term follow up but is a viable option for this select group. This paper has one of the largest cohorts with a reasonable follow up averaging 7.4 years and a revision rate of 11 percent. Combined unilateral knee replacements and ACL reconstruction can be a successful operation for patients with ACL rupture causing instability and unicompartmental arthritis