ABSTRACT
Background: since anterior cruciate ligament [ACL] reconstruction become more frequently carried out, expectation of less morbidity and earlier return to activities become higher; for this reason graft selection become more important. The purpose of this randomized clinical study is to compare the outcomes of ACL arthroscopic reconstruction when using either patellar tendon [PT] and tendons of medial hamstring muscle [HS]
Materials and Methods: we evaluate the clinical results of 187 patients who underwent these techniques, as assessed by history, instability tests, KT 1000 knee arthrometer, Lysholm and IKDC score, and MRI and compare them. Majority of patients were followed and evaluated 6 months [92%] and 3 years [84%] after arthroscopic reconstruction
Results: there were no differences between the study groups preoperatively. Our comparison has shown significant kneeling pain and anterior knee pain in the PT with respect to HS technique. Although, extension deficits were significantly greater in the PT group, Flexion deficits were not significantly different between the groups. Clinical results according to the Lysholm scale and IKDC score between these techniques were the same, except Lysholm score was worse in PT group than HS group at 3 year follow up. About radiologic evaluation, the tibial tunnel enlargement was significantly higher in HS technique in comparison with PT technique
Conclusion: the use of both grafts had a good and equal outcome and the only difference is their long-term complications. Anterior knee pain, kneeling pain, and more extension deficit could be good reasons for a surgeon to prefer tendons of medial hamstring muscle as graft for performing ACL reconstruction