Comparative study of transosseous suture and suture anchor technique in medial patellofemoral ligament double bundle reconstruction

Abstract

To investigate the effectiveness of transosseous suture in medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) double bundle reconstruction. The clinical data of 75 patients with recurrent patella dislocation who met the selection criteria between January 2014 and December 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. All of them were treated with MPFL double bundle reconstruction, and divided into study group (39 cases, using new transosseous suture technique) and control group (36 cases, using traditional suture anchor fixation) depending on the intraoperative fixation technique. There was no significant difference in gender, age, body mass index, affected knee side, preoperative tibial tuberosity-trochlear groove distance, Insall-Salvati ratio, knee range of motion, Kujala score, International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) score, congruence angle, and tilt angle between the two groups ( P>0.05). The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, hospital stay, and postoperative complications were recorded and compared between the two groups. Kujala score, IKDC score, and knee range of motion were used to evaluate the functional improvement of patients before and after operation. The congruence angle and tilt angle were measured on X-ray films. There was no significant difference in operation time, intraoperative blood loss, and hospital stay between the two groups ( P>0.05). Patients in both groups were followed up 24-36 months, with an average of 29.4 months. There was no complication such as incision infection, fat liquefaction, patellar redislocation, and prepatellar pain during follow-up. At last follow-up, the Kujala score, IKDC score, knee range of motion, congruence angle, and tilt angle of two groups significantly improved when compared with those before operation ( P<0.05), while there was no significant difference between the two groups ( P>0.05). The application of suture anchor or transosseous suture to complete MPFL double bundle reconstruction can restore patellar stability, and there is no significant difference in the short-term effectiveness between them.