A TECHNIQUE FOR THE EVALUATION OF THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF KNEE STRUCTURES TO KNEE MECHANICS IN THE KNEE THAT HAS A RECONSTRUCTED ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT
Sm. Feder et al., A TECHNIQUE FOR THE EVALUATION OF THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF KNEE STRUCTURES TO KNEE MECHANICS IN THE KNEE THAT HAS A RECONSTRUCTED ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT, Journal of orthopaedic research, 11(3), 1993, pp. 448-451
A technique to quantify the restraining action of specific knee struct
ures during anterior/posterior (A/P) tibial displacement tests in the
goat knee that has a reconstructed anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is
described. Joint specimens were mounted in an instrumented test stand
to measure both the forces on, and resulting translations of, the tib
ia in the A/P direction. The intact grafted knee was tested first, aft
er which structures were sequentially cut or removed, or both, and the
test was repeated. The ACL graft remained intact in the joint during
this process; therefore, subsequent axial failure testing was possible
. Analysis of the resulting force-displacement curves allowed the perc
entage contribution and anterior joint stiffness to be determined for
each structure at a fixed anterior displacement in 12 goat knees 6 mon
ths after ACL allografting. The allografts were found to provide about
56% of the total restraining force, more than any other structure exa
mined. Studies of this kind will be important in the documentation of
the changing role of an autograft or allograft in a reconstructed knee
over time.