T. Muneta et al., OBJECTIVE FACTORS AFFECTING OVERALL SUBJECTIVE EVALUATION OF RECOVERYAFTER ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT RECONSTRUCTION, Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports, 8(5), 1998, pp. 283-289
The goal of this prospective study was to determine how objective meas
urements affect the overall subjective evaluation of recovery after an
terior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction and to evaluate the effe
cts of graft material, residual instability and sporting activity on p
atient satisfaction. Ninety-seven patients with unilateral ACL injurie
s whose ACL was reconstructed using either a multi-strand semitendinos
us (ST) graft or a central-third bone-patellar tendon-bone (BTB) graft
were followed for an average of 30 months. An ''overall subjective re
covery score'' was derived from the patients' evaluation of function o
f the operated knee as a percentage of the unoperated knee. The mean o
verall subjective recovery score at follow-up was 80% (range, 20% to 1
00%). This study strongly suggested that integrity of the knee extensi
on mechanism, that is, good recovery of knee extension strength with a
chievement of full extension and no problems in the patellofemoral joi
nt, is the most important factor in patient satisfaction after ACL rec
onstruction.