Remnant posterior cruciate ligament-augmenting stent procedure for injuries in the acute or subacute stage.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the results of a remnant posterior cruciate ligament (PCL)-augmenting stent procedure for acute- or subacute-stage PCL injuries in terms of stability and clinical results.


METHODS
Between September 2003 and March 2006, 32 patients with a PCL tear underwent a reconstructive stent procedure with an autogenous hamstring tendon graft to augment the remains of the injured PCL. Of these patients, 20 who satisfied our inclusion criteria and could be followed up for a minimum duration of 24 months were enrolled in our study. The remnant PCL and synovium were preserved, and augmentation was performed by use of the transtibial technique. A femoral tunnel was created near the footprint of the anterolateral bundle. Stability was measured on posterior stress radiographs and by use of a maximum manual displacement test performed with a KT-1000 arthrometer (MEDmetric, San Diego, CA). The International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) and Orthopädische Arbeitsgruppe Knie scoring systems were used for clinical evaluation.


RESULTS
Stress radiographs showed that the mean side-to-side differences in displacement were reduced from 9.9 +/- 4.0 mm preoperatively to 3.0 +/- 2.6 mm at the last follow-up, whereas KT-1000 tests showed that these differences were reduced from 6.9 +/- 2.1 mm preoperatively to 2.7 +/- 1.5 mm. The final IKDC score was A in 7 patients (35%), B in 10 (50%), C in 2 (10%), and D in 1 (5%). The mean Orthopädische Arbeitsgruppe Knie score improved from 61.6 +/- 13.1 to 88.2 +/- 9.5.


CONCLUSIONS
Of the patients, 90% showed satisfactory posterior stability and 85% had a normal or nearly normal rating based on the IKDC score at a mean of 3 years after the remnant PCL-augmenting stent procedure in the acute or subacute stage of PCL injuries.
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Medical Center of Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Young-Bok
YB
Jung
Ho-Joong
HJ
Jung
Kwang-Sup
KS
Song
Jae Yoon
JY
Kim
Han Jun
HJ
Lee
Jae-Sung
JS
Lee
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005269:Femur / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D016119:Posterior Cruciate Ligament / Q000293:injuries* / Q000601:surgery* / Q000637:transplantation; D011187:Posture; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000379:methods; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013977:Tibia / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000601:surgery; D055815:Young Adult