Surgical intra- and extra-articular anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: a meta-analysis

Vancomycin presoak reduces infection in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: a systematic review and meta-analysis

PURPOSE

To compare the effect of vancomycin presoak treatment of grafts during anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction on the incidence of postoperative infection or septic arthritis.

METHODS

Studies published before May 3, 2022 investigating vancomycin presoak of grafts during anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction were searched in the PubMed and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Studies were screened, and data on the incidence of postoperative infection or septic arthritis were extracted and included in the analysis.

RESULTS

Thirteen studies were included for analysis after search screening, yielding a total of 31,150 participants for analysis, of whom 11,437 received graft vancomycin presoak treatment, and 19,713 did not receive treatment. Participants who received vancomycin treatment had significantly lower infection rates (0.09% versus 0.74%; OR 0.17; 95% CI 0.10, 0.30; P < 0.00001).

CONCLUSION

Pre-soaking of the graft with vancomycin during ACL reconstruction reduced the incidence of postoperative infection and septic arthritis.

Comparative Success of Repair Versus Reconstruction for Knee Extra-articular Ligament Injuries

Background

Surgical techniques and associated outcomes in treating acute and chronic extra-articular ligament knee injuries are in evolution, and there is question as to whether repair or reconstruction is optimal.

Purpose/Hypothesis

The purpose of this study was to compare the subsequent surgery rate between surgical repair versus reconstruction for all extra-articular ligament injuries of the knee utilizing a large database. Our hypothesis was that overall surgical repair of both lateral and medial extra-articular knee injuries would have a higher revision rate than those treated by reconstruction.

Study Design

Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods

The PearlDiver Mariner data set (2010-2019), with 122 million patients, was utilized to generate 2 patient cohorts: those who underwent surgical repair and those who underwent surgical reconstruction of a knee extra-articular ligament injury. All patients had a minimum of 2 years follow-up. Rates of concomitant or subsequent cruciate ligament reconstruction and rates of secondary procedures were assessed and compared between the 2 cohorts.

Results

In total, 3563 patients were identified: extra-articular ligament reconstruction was performed for 2405 (67.5%), and repair was performed for 1158 (32.5%). Cruciate ligament reconstruction was performed for 986 (27.7%), of which 888 of 986 (90.1%) were performed on the same day as their extra-articular ligament procedure. At 2-year follow-up, the reconstruction cohort had higher rates of revision surgery compared with the repair cohort (8.2% vs 2.5%; P < .001).

Conclusion

Using a large national database, knee extra-articular ligamentous reconstructions (those on both the lateral and the medial side) had a 3.3 times higher rate of revision surgery compared with repair at 2-year follow-up. Further study is needed to investigate the causes leading to revision surgery and to determine the optimal surgical treatment for both medial and lateral extra-articular knee ligament injuries.

Latin American formal consensus on the appropriate indications of extra-articular lateral procedures in primary anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

OBJECTIVES

To create a practice guideline for the appropriate indications of an extra-articular procedure in primary anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR).

METHODS

The formal consensus method described by the Haute Autorité de Santé was used. The Latin American Society of Arthroscopy, Articular Replacement, and Sports Injuries (SLARD) recruited three groups of experts on ACLR. Initially, the steering group, consisting of eight surgeons, performed a systematic review of the literature and elaborated on 192 scenarios for primary ACLR. The rating group, composed of 23 surgeons, rated each scenario in two rounds, with an in-between in-person meeting for discussion. Median scores and agreement levels were estimated to classify each scenario as inappropriate, uncertain or appropriate for adding anterolateral reconstruction. Finally, the lecture group, consisting of 10 surgeons, revised each stage of the method, results and interpretation.

RESULTS

Of the scenarios, 11.97% were rated as appropriate for adding an extra-articular lateral procedure, 7.81% as inappropriate and 80.21% as uncertain. The key recommendations for the addition of extra-articular lateral techniques were as follows: it is appropriate when the patient is under 25 years of age, has high-grade physical examination findings, practises a pivoting sport and has hyperlaxity; meanwhile, it is inappropriate when the patient has low-grade physical examination findings, has normal laxity and does not practise a pivoting sport.

CONCLUSIONS

The appropriate indications of extra-articular lateral procedures in primary ACLR were determined on the basis of the best available evidence and expert opinion following a formal consensus method.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

V.

Trends in Primary Anatomical Single-Bundle Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Practice in Adult Patients Prevalent Among Arthroscopy Surgeons of Six Southern States of India

BACKGROUND

Although guidelines from multiple scientific studies decide the general trend in ACLR practice, there is often a variation between scientific guidelines and actual practice.

METHODS

A 17-member committee comprised of sports surgeons with experience of a minimum of 10 years of arthroscopy surgery finalized a survey questionnaire consisting of concepts in ACL tear management and perioperative trends, intraoperative and post-operative practices regarding single-bundle anatomic ACLR. The survey questionnaire was mailed to 584 registered sports surgeons in six states of south India. A single, non-modifiable response was collected from each member and analyzed.

RESULTS

324 responses were received out of 584 members. A strong consensus was present regarding Hamstring tendons preference for ACLR, graft diameter ≥ 7.5 mm, viewing femoral footprint through the anterolateral portal, drilling femoral tunnel from anteromedial portal guided by ridges and remnants of femoral footprint using a freehand technique, suspensory devices to fix the graft in femur and interference screw in the tibia and post-operative bracing. A broad consensus was achieved in using a brace to minimize symptoms of instability of an ACL tear and antibiotic soaking of graft. There was no consensus regarding the timing of ACLR, preferred graft in athletes, pre-tensioning, extra-articular procedure, and return to sports. There was disagreement over hybrid tibial fixation and suture tapes to augment graft.

CONCLUSION

Diverse practices continue to prevail in the management of ACL injuries. However, some of the consensuses reached in this survey match global practices. Contrasting or inconclusive practices should be explored for potential future research.

Comparison of clinical outcomes between isolated ACL reconstruction and combined ACL with anterolateral ligament reconstruction: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

To compare the clinical outcomes between isolated cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) and combined ACL with anterolateral ligament reconstruction in chronic ACL injury especially with rotary instability problem.

METHODS

Systematic searches were conducted of literature published up to July 2021 on PubMed, Google Search, and Cochrane databases for studies comparing isolated ACLR and ACL with anterolateral reconstruction. Two reviewers independently determined eligibility, extracted outcome data, and assessed the risk of bias of eligible studies. Pooled clinical outcomes used random effects with mean differences and risk ratio for continuous and dichotomous variables, respectively.

RESULTS

After excluding 49 articles based on full-text screening, six studies were identified which met the inclusion criteria in the meta-analysis. Clinical outcomes such as residual laxity, rotatory instability, and graft failure were compared between isolated ACLR and combined ACL and anterolateral stability reconstruction. Overall, both clinical outcomes of isolated ACL and combined ACL with anterolateral reconstruction show improvement results in pivot shift test, the absence of residual laxity and incidence of graft failure. Compared to isolated ACLR, the prominent postoperative result was by combined ACL with anterolateral reconstruction which had significant differences in laxity outcome based on (I² = 89%, p < 0.00001) and (MD = 0.71, 95%CI: 0.33-1.08, p = 0.00002).

CONCLUSIONS

The combined ACL with anterolateral reconstruction tended to have superior clinical outcomes, especially in the absence of residual laxity, compared to the isolated ACLR, but the other results were not significantly different statistically. Combined ACL and anterolateral reconstruction were not performed routinely for patients undergoing ACL reconstruction, but more suitable for chronic rotatory instability problem.

Clinical outcomes of contemporary lateral augmentation techniques in primary ACL reconstruction: a systematic review and meta-analysis

PURPOSE

The purpose of this investigation was to systematically review the contemporary literature to determine if a lateral augmentation (LA) added to an Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction (ACLR) provides better clinical and patient reported outcomes compared to an isolated ACLR.

METHODS

A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) criteria. Two authors independently conducted an electronic search using MEDLINE® and Embase® on February 6^th, 2021 for level I-III randomized controlled trials (RCT) and prospective cohort studies without randomization, published after 2012 and with a minimum of two year follow-up. Publications were included when they reported on the objective knee stability examination, patient reported outcome scores, return to sports or graft rupture rate of any type of primary, isolated ACLR compared to ACLR combined with any type of LA.

RESULTS

A total of 11 studies that reported on a combined total of 1892 unique patients were eligible for data extraction, including five RCTs and six prospective cohort studies. In 6 studies, an Anterolateral Ligament reconstruction (ALLR) was the LA of choice, while the 5 other publications used different types of Lateral Extra-articular Tenodesis (LET). A significant reduction in graft ruptures was found in patients treated with ACLR + LA (3%) compared to isolated ACLR (12%). Rotational laxity was significantly higher in isolated ACLR (14%) compared to ACLR + LA (6%). Addition of a LA reduced anterior translation when assessed via instrumented laxity testing. No significant difference was found in the patient reported outcome scores (IKDC and Tegner) between both patient groups, except for the Lysholm Score which was significant in favour of the ACLR + LA group.

CONCLUSION

Combination of a primary ACLR with a LA can significantly reduce the risk of graft rupture and provide better rotatory stability, without jeopardizing patient reported outcomes.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level III, Systematic Review of Level I, II and III studies.

The efficacy and safety of intravenous tranexamic acid in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: A randomized controlled trial protocol

BACKGROUND

The safety and efficacy of intravenous tranexamic acid (TXA) in the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction remains controversial. There is an urgent need of studies that efficiently control for confounding, conduct comprehensive and consecutive observation of potential risks of the TXA administration, and investigate its clinical applicability. The purpose of this work is to assess the safety and efficacy of the intravenous TXA in decreasing perioperative blood loss in the patients undergoing ACL reconstruction.

METHODS

This randomized, controlled, prospective research was carried out between January 2017 and January 2018. All the patients and their family members signed the informed consent forms, and this current work was authorized via the ethics committee of Nanjing first hospital (registration No.: NJU1003586). A total of 100 patients were divided randomly into 2 group: the control group (n = 50) and study group (n = 50). The study group receives intravenous TXA administration [1 g] before skin incision. The control group receives equivalent normal saline. Primary outcome measures including blood loss, hemoglobin decline, transfusion rate, C-reactive protein, D-dimer value, fibrinogen, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, thrombin time, international normalized ratio and erythrocyte sedimentation rate were recorded. The measures of secondary outcomes refer to the clinical data involving the range of motion and postoperative pain score. The pain score was quantified by utilizing the 10-cm scale of visual analog. The pain strength was in the range of 0-10, where 0 is totally no pain and 10 represents the most severe pain.

RESULTS

This experiment had strict inclusive criteria and exclusive criteria and a well- regulated intervention.

CONCLUSION

Our results can bring a new perspective on the use of TXA after arthroscopically assisted ACL surgery.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

This study protocol was registered in Research Registry (researchregistry5798).