title: Does bone impaction technique reduce tunnel enlargement in ACL reconstruction?
abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate effects of bone impaction technique on tunnel enlargement after ACL reconstruction at a minimum 2 years follow-up. Two groups of patients who had been operated upon with the same arthroscopic technique with the exception of tibial tunnel constitution were compared. Twenty-one patients of group A (drilling to 6 mm followed enlargement to 8-9 mm by using dilators) and 23 patients of group B (directly drilling to the size of the graft) were evaluated clinically and radiographically based on multislice computerised tomography (MSCT) retrospectively. At follow-up, there was no statistical difference between tunnel diameters between two groups at the femoral site, but significant difference at the tibial site (p = 0.00192 for coronal; p = 0.0171 for sagittal diameter). Both groups were comparable according pre- and postoperative Lysholm and IKDC scores (p < 0.5 Mann-Whitney U test). Compacted tunnel walls may resist enlargement, suggesting this technique resulted in better tunnel diameter values especially with intratunnel fixation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, School of Medicine, Yeditepe University, Istanbul, Turkey. a.gokce@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Alper
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gokce
authors.forename: Tahsin
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Beyzadeoglu
authors.forename: Fatih
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ozyer
authors.forename: Halil
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bekler
authors.forename: Fahri
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Erdogan
mesh_terms: D016118:Anterior Cruciate Ligament / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D000070598:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries; D001182:Arthroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006085:Graft Survival; D006801:Humans; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011336:Probability; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular / Q000502:physiology*; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013710:Tendons / Q000637:transplantation*; D013977:Tibia / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D036542:Tomography, Spiral Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome