title: Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with fresh-frozen patellar tendon allografts: sixty cases with 2 years' minimum follow-up.
abstract: A prospective study was performed on 101 patients who underwent an arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction with fresh-frozen patellar tendon allograft (bone-patellar tendon-bone). We present the results of the first 60 patients with a minimum follow-up of 2 years. Thirty-four were men and 26 women with a mean age of 23. In 45 patients, a postoperative arthroscopy was performed, and tissue biopsies of the reconstructed ACL were obtained. Patients were evaluated according to the International Knee Documentation Committee evaluation form. After a mean follow-up of 47 months, the overall results were normal or nearly normal in 85%. Under postoperative arthroscopy, the macroscopic appearance of the implant was similar to that of a normal ligament. The ACL allograft was covered with a normal, well-vascularized synovium. There were no cases of infection, disease transmission or tissue rejection. We conclude that the use of fresh-frozen patellar tendon allografts is a good method of ACL reconstruction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University Clinic of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Nín
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leyes
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schweitzer
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016118:Anterior Cruciate Ligament / Q000601:surgery*; D000070598:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries; D001182:Arthroscopy; D015925:Cryopreservation; D004724:Endoscopy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010329:Patella / Q000637:transplantation*; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D013710:Tendons / Q000637:transplantation*; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous; D016896:Treatment Outcome