Anterior knee pain 7 years after an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with a bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft

In order to evaluate the occurrence and predicting factors of anterior knee pain in patients after an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction,vith a bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft, a functional, clinical and radiograph ic evaluation was performed on 91 patients on average 7 years after the sur gery. Also, the isokinetic muscle torque was measured. At 7 years, anterior knee pain, as classified by the International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC), was absent in 40 patients, mild in 47 patients, and moderate in 3 patients. None was classified as suffering from severe anterior knee pain, In the logistic regression analysis of predicting factors (forward-stepping ), knee extension torque deficit of the operated limb was the only factor t hat showed significant association with anterior knee pain. The other objec tive measurements of the knee (flexion torque deficit, range of motion, sta bility evaluation, and radiographic evaluation of the knee) were not associ ated with anterior knee pain, Subjectively and not surprisingly, the patien ts without anterior knee pain were more often satisfied with the overall ou tcome than the patients with anterior knee pain. Also the Lysholm and Marsh all knee scores and the final outcome in the IKDC rating scale were signifi cantly better in patients without than with anterior knee pain.