Fr. Noyes et Sd. Barberwestin, SURGICAL RECONSTRUCTION OF SEVERE CHRONIC POSTEROLATERAL COMPLEX INJURIES OF THE KNEE USING ALLOGRAFT TISSUES, American journal of sports medicine, 23(1), 1995, pp. 2-12
We report for the first time a reconstructive procedure of the postero
lateral complex using allograft tissue to restore fibular collateral l
igament function. The procedure is designed for knees where insufficie
nt soft tissues are present and suitable autogenous graft tissues are
not available. Twenty consecutive patients were studied; all returned
for follow-up evaluation a mean of 42 months (range, 24 to 73) after s
urgery. The results were evaluated with the use of a comprehensive sub
jective and objective system that rated 20 factors. The success rate f
or the operative procedure was 76% (16 of 21 operations) as judged by
knee stability examination and stress radiographs. Three of the recons
tructions showed partial stretching and two failed. There was signific
ant improvement from preoperative to follow-up scores of functional li
mitations in sports activities (P < 0.05), symptoms (P < 0.01), and ov
erall scores (P < 0.0001). The immediate knee motion and rehabilitatio
n program restored 0 degrees to 135 degrees of motion in all knees and
was not deleterious to the reconstructions.