Arthroscopic reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament - A comparison of patellar tendon autograft and four-strand hamstring tendon autograft

We compared the outcome of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using hamstring tendon autograft with outcome using patellar tendon autograft at 2 years after surgery. Patients had an isolated anterior cruciate ligament injury and, apart from the grafts, the arthroscopic surgical technique was identical. Prospective assessment was performed on 90 patients with isolate d anterior cruciate ligament injury undergoing reconstruction with a patell ar tendon autograft; 82 were available for follow-up. The hamstring tendon autograft group consisted of the next 90 consecutive patients fulfilling th e same criteria; 85 were available for followup, Clinical review included t he Lysholm and International Knee Documentation Committee scores, instrumen ted testing, thigh atrophy, and kneeling pain. These methods revealed no di fference between the groups in terms of ligament stability, range of motion , and general symptoms. Thigh atrophy was significantly less in the hamstri ng tendon group at 1 year after surgery, a difference that had disappeared by 2 years. The KT-1000 arthrometer testing showed a slightly increased mea n laxity in the female patients in the hamstring tendon graft group. Kneeli ng pain after reconstruction with the hamstring tendon autograft was signif icantly less common than with the patellar tendon autograft, suggesting low er donor-site morbidity with hamstring tendon harvest.