title: Radiographic study on the tibial insertion of the posterior cruciate ligament.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To establish the radiographic distances from posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) tibial insertions centers to the lateral and medial tibial cortex in the anteroposterior view, and from these centers to the PCL facet most proximal point on the lateral view, in order to guide anatomical tunnels drilling in PCL reconstruction and for tunnel positioning postoperative analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Controlled laboratory study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty cadaver knees were evaluated. The PCL's bundles tibial insertions were identified and marked out using metal tags, and the knees were radiographed. On these radiographs, the bundles insertion sites center location relative to the tibial mediolateral measure, and the distances from the most proximal PCL facet point to the bundle's insertion were determined. All measures were calculated using the ImageJ software.
  
  
  RESULTS
  On the anteroposterior radiographs, the mean distance from the anterolateral (AL) bundle insertion center to the medial tibial edge was 40.68 ± 4.10 mm; the mean distance from the posteromedial (PM) bundle insertion center to the medial tibial edge was 38.74 ± 4.40 mm. On the lateral radiographs, the mean distances from the PCL facet most proximal point to AL and PM bundles insertion centers were 5.49 ± 1.29 mm and 10.53 ± 2.17 mm respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It was possible to establish a radiographic pattern for PCL tibial bundles insertions, which may be useful for intraoperative tunnels locations control and for postoperative tunnels positions analysis.
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Ciências Médicas e da Saúde de Sorocaba, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, Sorocaba, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Julio Cesar
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Gali
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Ciências Médicas e da Saúde de Sorocaba, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, Sorocaba, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Paulo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Esquerdo
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Ciências Médicas e da Saúde de Sorocaba, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, Sorocaba, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marco Antonio Pires
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Almagro
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Ciências Médicas e da Saúde de Sorocaba, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, Sorocaba, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Phelipe Augusto Cintra
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: da Silva
keywords: Cadaver; Posterior cruciate ligament/radiography; Tibia