Midterm Outcomes After Revision Posterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction With a Single-Bundle Transtibial Autograft

Technique and Outcomes of Posterior Cruciate Ligament Repair With Augmentation

Background

Posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) injuries to the knee are uncommon, and ideal surgical management of these injuries is unclear. Current surgical techniques include PCL reconstruction with remnant debridement, remnant-preserving techniques, and primary PCL repair. Augmentation of PCL repairs and reconstructions has been proposed to protect repairs or grafts in the postoperative period.

Purpose

To describe PCL repair with the hamstring autograft augmentation technique and examine our preliminary midterm outcomes from a sequential cohort of patients.

Study Design

Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

Methods

The authors identified patients at their institution who underwent remnant-preserving primary PCL repair with hamstring autograft augmentation for both isolated tears and tears associated with multiligament knee injury (MLKI). Patient-reported outcomes were evaluated at a minimum 2-year follow-up using the International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) subjective knee form, the 12-item Short Form Survey, and a custom return-to-play questionnaire. Patient-reported outcomes data were summarized, and the predictors of outcomes from the descriptive data and clinical measures were further examined.

Results

A total of 23 patients with a mean follow-up of 5.3 years met the inclusion criteria. Of these patients, 87% were associated with MLKI. The mean IKDC score was 87.7. Approximately 83% of patients were able to successfully return to their sport or occupation. Among 19 athletes, only 2 reported being unable to return to their preinjury level of sport because of limitations from their PCL surgery. Patient-reported outcome scores and return to sport or occupation did not have a statistically significant association with age, sex, body mass index, time from injury to surgery, or follow-up time.

Conclusion

Outcomes of our cohort with remnant-preserving primary PCL repairs with hamstring autograft augmentation demonstrated comparable clinical outcomes to previously published PCL data. The advantages of remnant preservation, primary repair, and augmentation with an independent hamstring autograft reconstruction are combined within this technique.

Different femoral tunnel placement in posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: a finite element analysis

BACKGROUND

At present, there is no consensus on the optimal biomechanical method for Posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) reconstruction, and the "critical corner" that is produced by the femoral tunnel is currently considered to be one of the main reasons for PCL failure. Thus, the purpose of this study was to identify one or several different tunnels of the femur, thereby reducing the influence of the "critical corner" without reducing the posterior stability of the knee.

METHODS

CT and MRI data of the knee joint of a healthy adult man were collected, and computer-related software was used to reconstruct the finite element model of the knee joint, to provide different properties to different materials and to allow for the performance of a finite element analysis of the reconstructed model. The position of the femoral tunnel was positioned and partitioned according to anatomical posture, and three areas were divided (the antero-proximal region, the antero-distal region and the posterior region). In addition, we applied a posterior tibial load of 134 N to the reconstructed model, recorded and compared different tunnels of the femur, conducted peak stress at the flexion of the knee joint of 0°, 30°, 60° and 90°, and elicited the displacement of the proximal tibia.

RESULTS

Among the 20 different femoral tunnels, the graft peak stress was lower in tunnels 4, 12 and 18 than in the PCL anatomical footpath tunnel 13, especially at high flexion angles (60° and 90°). These three tunnels did not increase the posterior displacement of the proximal tibia compared with the anatomical footpath tunnel 13.

CONCLUSION

In summary, among the options for PCL reconstruction of the femoral tunnel, the tunnels located 5 mm distal to the footprint and 5 mm anterior to the footprint could reduce the peak stress of the graft; additionally, it may reduce the "critical corner" and was shown to not reduce the posterior stability of the knee joint.

Good clinical and radiological results following remnant-preserving posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: a systematic review

PURPOSE

The objective of this systematic literature review was to report the results and complications of recent remnant preservation techniques in posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) reconstruction.

METHODS

A systematic review was conducted based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Two independent reviewers searched the PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases using the terms "posterior cruciate ligament" or "PCL" and "remnant preserving." The outcome measures extracted from the studies were the Lysholm score, the International Knee Documentation Committee's (IKDC) subjective and objective scores, Tegner scores, Orthopädische Arbeitsgruppe Knie (OAK) rate of return to sports, and rate of complications. Data were also extracted from studies that used stress radiographs to perform a quantitative assessment of the preoperative and postoperative anteroposterior stability.

RESULTS

The systematic review included 13 studies. The patient cohort of consisted of 643 participants (544 [84.6%] men and 99 [15.4%] women) with a mean age of 32.9 ± 4.0 years. The mean postoperative follow-up was 34.5 ± 10.9 months (range: 24-96 months), while the mean time from injury to surgery was 14.4 ± 9.9 months (range: 0-240 months). All studies reported clinically significant improvement at final follow-up, as evident from the measured subjective and objective IKDC scores, Lysholm score, Tegner score, and OAK rate. Only three studies reported return to sports activity, with a mean percentage of 90.8% (99/109). All studies showed a significant improvement in posterior translation, from 11.5 ± 1.2 mm to 3.3 ± 1.1 mm, using radiography (side-to-side difference). This systematic review revealed 13 (2.0%) failures and 33 (5.1%) minor complications: 10 (1.6%) cases of stiffness, 21 (4.9%) screws removal, 1 (0.2%) injury of the peroneal nerve, and 1 (0.2%) fibular fracture.

CONCLUSIONS

With the currently available data, all studies included in the review on posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with remnant preservation demonstrated satisfactory outcomes at mid-term follow-up (> 24 months), despite varying surgical techniques and graft types, and intervals from injury to surgery. For clinical relevance, standard PCL reconstruction is a highly effective operation in terms of improvement in functional status, knee stability, quality of life, and cost effectiveness. The remnant preservation technique requires more comprehensive diagnostic assessments of the PCL remnant patterns and more complicated surgical procedures. Given the absence so far of high quality studies with long-term follow-up, the remnant-preserving techniques should be recommended only by experienced knee arthroscopic surgeons.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level IV.

STUDY REGISTRATION

reviewregistry1376- www.researchregistry.com .