Postoperative evaluation of the position of interference screws, boneblocks and ligamentum patellae autografts in anterior cruciate ligament replacement.

Purpose: Evaluation of arthroscopically assisted reconstruction of the ante rior cruciate ligament using ligamentum patellae autografts in the bone-ten don-bone technique with special regard to the position of blocks and interf erence screws. Material and Methods: In a prospective study 28 patients wer e included after undergoing arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament replace ment surgery. Data thus obtained were correlated with the postoperatively d etermined functional parameters of the affected joint. Results: Interferenc e screws, bone-blocks and ligamentous transplants could be well imaged usin g CT. In a comparison of our data with clinical results there was a statist ically highly significant correlation between clinical outcome and the posi tion of bone-blocks and interference screws in the tibia. Angles between sc rew and bone-block exceeding a standard deviation led to significantly wors e results, while a divergence in femoral angles did not lead to significant ly worse results. Conclusion: The postoperative study of anterior cruciate ligament: replacement surgery by CT enables the evaluation of the transplan t as well as the position of bone-blocks and interference screws.