Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction is a common procedure post ACL tear. It aims to reduce knee joint instability and thus prevent any further meniscal and/or cartilage damage. 

Procedure

There are numerous surgical techniques for ACL reconstruction ^1-3:

• autograft reconstruction
  • bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft
  • hamstring autograft
    • four-strand autograft from semitendinosus and/or gracilis tendons
  • quadriceps tendon autograft
• allograft reconstruction
• synthetic graft reconstruction

The bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft and four-strand hamstring autograft are the two most commonly employed techniques ^1,2.

Complications

See article anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction complications for further details. 

Outcomes

Clinical failure is reported in ~10% (range 6-12%) of patients ⁴.  ~17.5% (range 13.6-21.5%) of patients develop symptomatic osteoarthritis post ACL reconstruction ¹. 

See also 

• radiographic evaluation of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction