Clinical outcome of arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with Hamstring tendon versus bone patella tendon bone

Abstract

          Background: There has been increasing use of hamstring tendon (HT) in arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACL-R) due to simplicity and less impairment of donor-knee function. However, there were limited clinical studies to compare effectiveness between bone patellar tendon (BPTB) and HT in non-academic hospitals.

          Objective: To study whether HT has comparable result to BPTB in ACL-R, factors of knee recovery return to pre-injury activity and learning curve of this operative technique.   

          Materials and methods: This study was retrospective descriptive study. There were 105 patients who underwent arthroscopic ACL-R in Suratthani hospital were included in study. Patients were followed up and evaluated at 6 months including recovery to pre-injury activity, knee stability, complication and learning curve

          Results: The patients who underwent arthroscopic ACL-R with BPTB  23 cases and 82 cases with HT. The mean age was 27.6 years old. Most of them were male (87.6%). Both groups had similar preoperative demographic data, injury to operation time and meniscal co- injury. There was no significant difference in post-operative knee stability and complication between both techniques. 4 factors affected recovery to pre-injury activity were graft type, complication, and anterior laxation. The learning curve shows significant decrease in the operative time after operations more than 60 cases.

          Conclusion: Using HT in arthroscopic ACL-R compared with BPTB were no significant in knee stability and complication. After operations more than 60 cases, the operation time was decrease. ACL-R with HT was preferable for patients with ACL Injury who need active lifestyle after operation.