title: The lateral tibial tunnel: does it allow for adequate fixation in ACL surgery?
abstract: The purpose of this cadaver study about the ACL graft was to compare a "Lateral Tibial Tunnel" (LTT) and a "classic, anteroMedial Tibial Tunnel" (MTT), as to fixation strength and mode of failure. Ten pairs of fresh frozen human proximal tibias were used. In one of both tibias a classic anteromedial tunnel was used, versus a lateral tibial tunnel in the contralateral knee. Autologous doubled semitendinosus and gracilis tendons were fixed in the tunnels. A maximum load to failure test was performed to determine the stiffness and the strength of the graft-tibia complex.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  for none of the measurements was there any significant difference between both tunnels. The tibial fixation strength of a human autologous doubled hamstring graft in ACL surgery is similar, whether a lateral or an anteromedial tibial tunnel is used. This is the first study investigating fixation strength of an ACL graft in a lateral tibial tunnel.
authors.affiliation: Dept Orthopaedic Surgery, UZ, Gent, Belgium. info@vanderbracht.com
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Van Der Bracht
authors.forename: Garth
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cloete
authors.forename: Benedict
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Page
authors.forename: Cornie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scheffer
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bellemans
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Verdonk
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D059549:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction / Q000379:methods*; D002102:Cadaver; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult