REVISION ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT RECONSTRUCTION

A case report is presented in which a professional football player, wh o was 4 years status post anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruct ion with autogenous patellar tendon, ruptured his graft. The contralat eral patellar tendon was not available as a graft because of a more re cent ACL reconstruction using that autogenous patellar tendon. This ca se reports the use of a previous donor site for supplying a patellar t endon autograft. Biopsy of the donor graft was consistent with normal tendon. The use of a healed patellar tendon donor site is a viable opt ion for revision anterior cruciate reconstructive surgery. This option prevents the possibility of disease transmission with use of an allog raft. We have shown grossly and histologically that the donor site has the potential to regenerate to tissue that has the appearance of norm al tendon. This option could be available for revision surgery, but wo uld not be recommended if the initial surgery was < 18 months-2 years in the past.