title: Persistent stability 3 years after reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament. A radiostereometric analysis (RSA) of 20 patients.
abstract: We measured, by radiostereometric analysis (RSA), the sagittal knee laxity in 20 consecutive patients with chronic anterior cruciate ligament injuries before, 1 year and 3 years after reconstruction with a free bone-patellar tendon-bone graft. The grafts had been perioperatively tensioned, using a 10-15 N load. An increased displacement with increasing load was present before reconstruction, but we found no differences between 100 and 150 N stress load 1 and 3 years after the operation. The total anteroposterior displacement decreased from 12.7 mm before the reconstruction to 5.1 mm 1 year and 5.6 mm 3 years postoperatively, using a stress load of 150 N. Thus, we found both a definite end-point of joint displacement and persistent stability without elongation of the graft with time, when care was taken not to over-constrain the knee by a high initial graft tension.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Lund University Hospital, Sweden.
authors.forename: L P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Jorn
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fridén
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ryd
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lindstrand
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016118:Anterior Cruciate Ligament / Q000601:surgery*; D000070598:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D016025:Bone Transplantation; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007593:Joint Instability / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013710:Tendons / Q000637:transplantation; D016896:Treatment Outcome