[A prospective study of the anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: allograft versus autograft].
OBJECTIVE
To compare the clinical outcomes and differences of arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction by using allografts and autografts.


METHODS
Fifty-three patients with grade III ACL injuries were divided randomly into 2 groups. Twenty-five cases of group A with autografts of patellar bone-tendon-bone (B-PT-B;n = 15) and 4 strands of semitendinosus/gracilis (n = 10); 28 patients of group B with allografts of B-PT-B (n = 18), 4 strands of semitendinosus/2 strands of gracilis tendons (n = 6) and double tibialis posterior (n = 4) as well as Achilles bone-tendon (n = 2). All procedures were performed endoscopically by some surgeons. All patients were followed up for 12 to 31 months, average 19 months.


RESULTS
There were statistically significant differences revealed in physical examination. IKDC and Lysholm-Tegner Score as well as KT-2000 testing was used preoperation and postoperation for both group, but there were no significant differences between the two groups except that group B had less time in operation and longer time in postoperative fever comparing with group A. (2-sample t test, P < 0.05). The KT-2000 side to side difference less than 3 mm were 88% and 86% and more than 5 mm were 4% and 7.1% respectively. The infection rates were 0% and 3.5% for the two groups.


CONCLUSIONS
The clinical outcomes of the allografts and autografts in ACL reconstruction is almost the same. Allografts are a reasonably alternative choice for ACL reconstruction in patients over middle ages and for multiple ligament surgery as well as revision procedures.
Sun
Kang
K
Department of Orthopaedics, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai 264000, China.
Tang
Ji-wen
JW
Xu
Qiang
Q
Liu
Xiao-yang
XY
Zhou
Lu-gang
LG
Hao
Yong-qiang
YQ
Wang
Li
L
Sun
Yu-jie
YJ
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016118:Anterior Cruciate Ligament / Q000601:surgery; D000070598:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries; D001182:Arthroscopy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D013710:Tendons / Q000637:transplantation*; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous; D016896:Treatment Outcome