No bone ingrowth into the tibia tunnel in anterior cruciate ligament-reconstructed patients - A 1-year prospective quantified CT study of 10 patientsreconstructed with an autologous bone-patellar tendon-bone graft

10 patients with major instability symptoms due to an acute anterior crucia te ligament injury were operated on with a bone-patellar tendon-bone recons truction. Tibial condyle bone mineral density (BMD), bone ingrowth and chan ges in diameter in the tibia bone tunnel were studied with quantified compu ted tomography (QCT) postoperatively and after 1, 3, 6 and 12 months. We found no sign of bone ingrowth in the form of increased bone mineral den sity (BMD) in the bone tunnels in any of the patients. The tunnel diameter increased in all patients during the first postoperative months. After 1 ye ar, 5 patients had a smaller diameter than at the first postoperative exami nation, 2 had the same diameter as immediately after surgery and 2 patients had a larger diameter. A sclerotic zone developed in all patients along th e perimeter of the tunnel during the 3-6 months of follow-up. The BMD in th e tibial condyle decreased at 3 months; it then increased, but between 6 an d 12 months, it levelled out and was slightly lower than postoperatively. In conclusion, we found no growth of bone into the tunnel and tendinous par t of the graft during the first postoperative year.