Double-bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with remnant preservation and tensioning

Abstract

Objective The purpose of this study is to evaluate the results of double-bundle anterior cruciate ligamen (ACL) reconstruction with remnant preservation and tensioning in acute stage. Methods Fifty-six cases of acute ACL injury were treated with double-bundle ACL reconstruction and tibial remnant preservation and tensioning. The double-bundle reconstruction is performed in a four-tunnel manner with eight-strands of hamstring tendon graft. The tibial remnant was tensioned with PDS sutures pulling through the femoral tunnel for the deep bundle. Fifty-three were followed up for a minimum of two years and evaluat-ed according to IKDC and Lysholm rating scale. Results At the last follow-up, all patients had negative Lachman test. KT-1000 examination in 25° knee flexion showed an average side-to-side difference of anterior laxity of (-0.44±1.53) mm compared with (8.01 1.83) mm before surgery (t=37.03, P=0.0001). Twenty-nine (54.7%) patients showed less than 0 mm side-to-side difference, which indicate a more stable or tight status of the injured knee compared with the normal side; 24(45.3%) patients showed 0 to 2 mm laxity. All patients showed negative pivot shift test. Forty-eight patients showed normal range of motion; 2 patients had 5° flexion deficit, 1 patient had less than 5° flexion deficit and 2 patients had 5° hyper-extension loss. In IKDC e-valuation 51 patients (96.2%) were graded as normal and 2 patients (3.8%) were graded as nearly normal. The IKDC subjective score was 95.6±3.1, and the Lysholm score was 94.8±2.9. The average Tegner score was 7.3 before injury and 7.1 at last follow-up. Conclusion Double-bundle ACL reconstruction with rem-nant preservation and tensioning in acute stage could get 96.2% normal and 3.8% nearly normal rates ac-cording to the IKDC scale at a minimum of two year follow-up. Key words: Joint instability; Knee joint; Anterior cruciate ligament