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.
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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
Related Radiopaedia articles
Knee pathology
The knee is a complex synovial joint that can be affected by a range of pathologies:
- bone and cartilage
-
knee fractures
- distal femoral condyle fracture
- tibial plateau fracture (classification)
- patella fracture
-
avulsion fractures of the knee
- arcuate complex avulsion fracture (arcuate sign)
- anterior cruciate ligament avulsion fracture
- biceps femoris avulsion fracture
- iliotibial band avulsion fracture
- patella fracture
- posterior cruciate ligament avulsion fracture
- reverse Segond fracture
- Segond fracture
- semimembranosus tendon avulsion fracture
- Stieda fracturechronic avulsion injuries
- dislocation
- chondromalacia patellae
- osteoarthritis of the knee
- osteochondral defects
- osteochondritis dissecans of the knee
- patterns of bone bruise in knee injury
-
knee fractures
- ligaments
- anterior cruciate ligament tear
- anterior cruciate ligament ganglion cyst
- anterior cruciate ligament mucoid degeneration
- posterior cruciate ligament tear
- medial collateral ligament tear
- lateral collateral ligament tear
- medial patellofemoral ligament tear
- posterolateral corner injury
- posteromedial corner injury
- tendons
- meniscal lesions
- bursosynovial lesions
- fat pad
- popliteal fossa
- fascia
- alignment
- knee
- patellofemoral
- gamut
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