The incidence of acute patellar tendon harvest complications for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.
OBJECTIVE
This study was performed to determine the incidence of acute bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft harvest complications after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction.


METHODS
Over a nearly 20-year period (September 1986 to April 2006), 1,725 consecutive patients underwent primary ACL reconstruction using bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft by 3 fellowship-trained sports medicine surgeons at our institution. Three acute complications related to patellar tendon harvest were identified from surgical databases, and the charts of these patients were reviewed.


RESULTS
In this series of 1,725 consecutive patients, 3 acute complications (0.2%) related to patellar tendon harvest were noted. These complications consisted of 2 patellar fractures (1 intraoperative and 1 postoperative) and 1 postoperative patellar tendon rupture. All 3 patients healed and went on to satisfactory outcomes.


CONCLUSIONS
A 0.2% overall acute complication rate related to patellar tendon harvest for primary ACL reconstruction supported our hypothesis. Bone-patella tendon-bone autograft remains a safe and viable choice for surgeons performing ACL reconstruction.


METHODS
Level IV, therapeutic case series.
Lee
Gregory H
GH
Division of Sports Medicine, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
McCulloch
Patrick
P
Cole
Brian J
BJ
Bush-Joseph
Charles A
CA
Bach
Bernard R
BR
D000328:Adult; D016118:Anterior Cruciate Ligament / Q000601:surgery*; D000070598:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000601:surgery; D050376:Bone-Patellar Tendon-Bone Grafting; D005260:Female; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010329:Patella / Q000473:pathology; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D016896:Treatment Outcome