EVALUATION OF ANTERIOR CRUCIATE RECONSTRU CTION REINFORCED BY THE KENNEDY LIGAMENT AUGMENTATION DEVICE - AN ARTHROSCOPIC AND HISTOLOGICAL STUDY

Fifty anterior cruciate ligament reconstructions with the Kennedy liga ment augmentation device were examined arthroscopically and histologic ally 6 to 61 months after operation. The autogenous segments used were the quadriceps tendon in 13 and the semitendinosus tendon, with or wi thout gracilis, in 37. The arthroscopic findings were rated as good in 31, fair in 15 and poor in 4, and there was correlation between these grades and KT-1000 measurements. The histological findings were grade d as good in 17, fair in 26 and poor in 4; these did not correlate wit h the arthroscopic grades but with the time interval after reconstruct ion. Maturation of the autogenous augmented segment was found to progr ess with time, but took more than 3 years to become complete.