Morphometric characteristics of the patellar tendon

Abstract

Introduction. The most common injuries of the knee joint are injuries of the anterior cruciate ligament. The golden standard in reconstruction of this ligament is graft bone - patellar tendon - bone. Knowing the morphometric characteristics of these ligaments is crucial for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. This study was aimed at determining morphometric characteristics of the patellar tendon in vivo, measured intraoperatively, and at defining the correlation between the obtained values and body weight, height, gender and sport activity among different groups of athletes. Material and Methods. This study included 184 patients suffering from anterior cruciate ligament injuries who were admitted to the Clinical Center of Vojvodina, Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology. Results. The patellar tendon width ranged from 28 mm to 43 mm, averaging at 32.02 mm. The length of the patellar tendon ranged from 35 mm to 62 mm, averaging at 46.34 mm. The thickness of the patellar tendon ranged from 3 mm to 6 mm, averaging at 3.78 mm. The measured results were positively and statistically relevant with the body mass, height and body mass index. Discussion and Conclusion. The patellar tendon was thicker, longer and wider in persons with higher values of body weight and height. Men have statistically longer, thicker and wider patellar tendon than women. There was no statistically significant difference between morphometric characteristics of the patellar tendon among professional athletes and recreational athletes, neither was there one in the obtained geometric data of the patellar tendon among tested groups of professional athletes.