Revision Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction in the Nonathlete Population

Considerations for revision anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: A review of the current literature

Background

Failure rates among primary Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction range from 3.2 to 11.1 %. Recently, there has been increased focus on surgical and anatomic considerations which predispose patients to failure, including excessive posterior tibial slope (PTS), unaddressed high-grade pivot shift, and improper tunnel placement.

Methods

The purpose of this review was to provide a current summary and analysis of the literature regarding patient-related and technical factors surrounding revision ACLR, rehabilitation considerations, overall outcomes, and return to sport (RTS) for patients who undergo revision ACLR.

Results

In revision ACLR patients, those receiving autografts are 2.78 times less likely to experience a re-rupture compared to patients who receive allografts. Additionally, individuals with properly positioned tunnels and removable implants are considered strong candidates for one-stage revision procedures. Conversely, cases involving primary tunnel widening of approximately 15 mm are typically indicative of two-stage revision ACLR. These findings underscore the importance of graft selection and surgical approach in optimizing outcomes for patients undergoing revision ACLR.

Conclusion

Given the high rates of revision surgery in young, active patients who return to pivoting sports, the literature recommends strong consideration of a combined ACLR + anterolateral ligament (ALL) or lateral extra-articular tenodesis (LET) procedure in this population. Unrecognized posterolateral corner (PLC) injury is a common cause of ACLR failure and current literature suggests concurrent operative management of high-grade PLC injuries. Excessive PTS has been identified as an independent risk factor for ACL graft failure. Consider revision ACLR with combined slope-reducing tibial osteotomy in cases of posterior tibial slope greater than 12°.

A Single-Stage Medial Opening Wedge High Tibial Osteotomy for Varus Alignment Correction With Revision Arthroscopic Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Reconstruction

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are a common clinical entity among people involved in contact sports activities. With the number of primary ACL reconstructions increasing, there has been a proportional increase in the revision of failed ACL reconstruction surgeries. As our understanding of knee kinematics improves over time, there has been evidence that alignment of the lower limb weight-bearing axis also plays an important part in ACL functioning. Medial opening wedge high tibial osteotomy (MOWHTO) is one such procedure that has been used extensively worldwide to correct the varus lower limb alignment. This procedure is usually reserved for young active patients with varus lower limb weight-bearing alignment. The technical dilemma for the surgeon arises when there is a need to revise a failed ACL reconstruction while at the same time correcting the axis malalignment. The general dictum says that alignment correction is done first followed by ligament reconstruction in a dual-stage procedure. However, single-stage surgery is possible in certain indications. In this case report, we present the case of a 31-year-old male involved in recreational sports who sustained a repeat ACL tear five years post the index surgery. He also had a significant varus alignment of the lower limb weight-bearing axis which was considered to be one of the causes of index surgery failure. In this report, we would like to highlight the problems we encountered in a single-stage procedure and certain surgical facets of a single-stage alignment surgery with arthroscopic revision ACL reconstruction.

Various Definitions of Failure Are Used in Studies of Patients Who Underwent Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

Purpose

To conduct a literature review to assess the definitions of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) failure used throughout the orthopaedic literature.

Methods

A systematic search of Embase, Ovid Medline, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science was conducted by a university librarian to identity level I-IV clinical studies on ACLR failure. Inclusion criteria consisted of patients who underwent ACLR and included a definition of failure of ACLR. Patients who underwent anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) repairs, animal/cadaver studies, review studies, non-English language articles, and non-full text articles were excluded. Failure data were extracted from each study and categorized. Other data that were extracted included follow-up time after ACLR, failure reoperation rate, and failure reoperation procedure. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data.

Results

Out of 2,775 studies, 104 (3.75%) met inclusion criteria and were analyzed in this review. The most common definition of ACLR failure included the use of a physical examination, specifically Lachman's test (21/104 [20.2%]), anterior laxity assessment, or a Pivot-Shift test (24/104 [35.2%]) or undergoing or requiring revision ACLR (39/104 [37.5%]). Although some studies used quantitative tests or imaging to help define "failure," others simply defined it as graft rerupture that was otherwise not defined (22/104 [22.5%]). Other common definitions included: the use of imaging (magnetic resonance imaging/radiographs) to confirm graft re-rupture (37/104 [35.6%]), patient-reported outcomes (recurrent instability)/patient reported outcomes measures (International Knee Documentation Committee [IKDC], Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score [KOOS], Tegner) (18/104 [17.3%]), and the use of an arthrometer (KT-1000/2000, Rollimeter, or Kneelax) (17/104 [16.3%]). The least common definitions included graft failure or rerupture confirmed by arthroscopy (13/104 [12.5%]) and nonrevision surgery (2/104 [1.0%]). The failure rate of this procedure ranged from 0% to 100% depending on the definition of "failure."

Conclusion

In this study, we found that a variety of definitions of failure are used among studies published in the orthopaedic literature. The most common criteria for failure of ACLR were the results of physical examination tests (35%), the need for undergoing a revision ACLR (36%), and the use of imaging to diagnose the failure (34%). About 17% of studies included in this review used patient-reported outcomes, specifically recurrent instability, or PROMs (IKDC, KOOS, Tegner) in their assessment of failure of ACLR. The least used definitions of "failure" of ACLR included nonrevision ACLR surgery (2%). Although some studies used similar tests or categories in their definition of failure, there were a variety of score and grade cutoff points between them.

Level of Evidence

Level IV, systematic review of Level II-IV studies.

Sensitivity analysis of the knee ligament forces to the surgical design variation during anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: a finite element analysis

The purpose of this study is to understand the effect of essential surgical design parameters on collateral and cruciate ligaments behavior for a Bone-Patellar-Tendon-Bone (BPTB) anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACL-R) surgery. A parametric finite element model of biomechanical experiments depicting the ACL-R surgery associated with a global sensitivity analysis was adopted in this work. The model parameters were six intraoperative variables, two-quadrant coordinates of femoral tunnel placement, femoral tunnel sagittal and coronal angles, graft pretension, and the joint angle at which the BPTB graft is tensioned (fixation angle). Our results indicated that cruciate ligaments (posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) and graft) were mainly sensitive to graft pretension (23%), femoral tunnel sites (56%), and the angle at which the surgeon decided to fix the graft (14%). The collateral ligaments (medial and lateral) were also affected by the same set of surgical parameters as the cruciate ligaments except for graft pretension. The output data of this study may help to identify a better role for the ACL-R intraoperative variables in optimizing the knee joint ligaments' postsurgical functionality.

Clinical Reliability of Adjustable Femoral Cortical Suspensory Fixation in Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction and Correlation of Clinical Outcomes With Demographic and Perioperative Factors

Background and objective The primary goal of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) is to protect the initial graft fixation against heavy loads encountered during the rehabilitation phase. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the functional outcomes (Lysholm score) and laxity [anterior tibial translation (ATT), anterior drawer test, Lachman test, and pivot shift test] of ACLR with adjustable-loop femoral cortical suspensory fixation (CSF) and tibial interferences crew fixation. Methods This study included 100 patients who underwent primary ACL reconstruction using quadruple hamstring grafts secured with TightRope® (Arthrex Inc, Naples, FL) femoral fixation and an interference screw on the tibial end. Six patients were excluded from the final analysis (four lost to follow-up, one suffered re-injury, and one had septic arthritis). The remaining 94 patients were evaluated for laxity and functional outcomes preoperatively, as well as at one, six, and 12 months postoperatively. Regression analysis was performed to determine the association between outcomes and 11 independent variables. This was designed as a prospective cohort study (level of evidence: II). Results The mean age of the participants was 28.46 ± 7.01 years. The median preoperative Lysholm knee score of 49 (mean ± SD: 48.2 ± 5.42) improved to 93 (92.7 ± 2.1) at six months and 98 (97.6 ± 2.1) at the one-year follow-up. The improvement was found to be statistically significant (p<0.01). The median ATT was 10 mm preoperatively, which decreased to 2 mm at one month, remained the same at six months, and rose to 3 mm at the one-year follow-up. ATT was found significantly reduced at one month postoperatively (p<.001) and did not show any significant further changes at subsequent follow-ups (p>0.05). Multiple linear regression revealed that one-year postoperative ATT (Rolimeter, Aircast Europa, Stephanskirchen, Germany) was independent of all demographic and perioperative variables tested. Conclusion Quadrupled hamstring graft ACLR with adjustable-loop fixation showed excellent subjective and objective outcomes with no residual laxity or failure of graft over mid-term follow-up. Postoperative laxity was not correlated with graft and tunnel dimensions.

Trauma and femoral tunnel position are the most common failure modes of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: a systematic review

PURPOSE

To improve outcomes of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR), it is important to understand the reasons for failure of this procedure. This systematic review was performed to identify current failure modes of ACLR.

METHODS

A systematic search was performed using PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, and annual registries for ACLR failures. Studies were included when failure modes were reported (I) of ≥ 10 patients and (II) at a minimum of two-year follow-up. Modes of failure were also compared between different graft types and in femoral tunnel positions.

RESULTS

This review included 24 cohort studies and 4 registry-based studies (1 level I, 1 level II, 10 level III, and 16 level IV studies). Overall, a total of 3657 failures were identified. The most common single failure mode of ACLR was new trauma (38%), followed by technical errors (22%), combined causes (i.e. multiple failure mechanisms; 19%), and biological failures (i.e. failure due to infection or laxity without traumatic or technical considerations; 8%). Technical causes also played a contributing role in 17% of all failures. Femoral tunnel malposition was the most common cause of technical failure (63%). When specifically looking at the bone-patellar tendon-bone (BPTB) or hamstring (HT) autografts, trauma was the most common failure mode in both, whereas biological failure was more pronounced in the HT group (4% vs. 22%, respectively). Technical errors were more common following transtibial as compared to anteromedial portal techniques (49% vs. 26%).

CONCLUSION

Trauma is the single leading cause of ACLR failure, followed by technical errors, and combined causes. Technical errors seemed to play a major or contributing role in large part of reported failures, with femoral tunnel malposition being the leading cause of failure. Trauma was also the most common failure mode in both BPTB and HT grafts. Technical errors were a more common failure mode following transtibial than anteromedial portal technique.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

IV.

Techniques for In Vivo Measurement of Ligament and Tendon Strain: A Review

The critical clinical and scientific insights achieved through knowledge of in vivo musculoskeletal soft tissue strains has motivated the development of relevant measurement techniques. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the key findings, limitations, and clinical impacts of these techniques to quantify musculoskeletal soft tissue strains during dynamic movements. Current technologies generally leverage three techniques to quantify in vivo strain patterns, including implantable strain sensors, virtual fibre elongation, and ultrasound. (1) Implantable strain sensors enable direct measurements of tissue strains with high accuracy and minimal artefact, but are highly invasive and current designs are not clinically viable. (2) The virtual fibre elongation method tracks the relative displacement of tissue attachments to measure strains in both deep and superficial tissues. However, the associated imaging techniques often require exposure to radiation, limit the activities that can be performed, and only quantify bone-to-bone tissue strains. (3) Ultrasound methods enable safe and non-invasive imaging of soft tissue deformation. However, ultrasound can only image superficial tissues, and measurements are confounded by out-of-plane tissue motion. Finally, all in vivo strain measurement methods are limited in their ability to establish the slack length of musculoskeletal soft tissue structures. Despite the many challenges and limitations of these measurement techniques, knowledge of in vivo soft tissue strain has led to improved clinical treatments for many musculoskeletal pathologies including anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, Achilles tendon repair, and total knee replacement. This review provides a comprehensive understanding of these measurement techniques and identifies the key features of in vivo strain measurement that can facilitate innovative personalized sports medicine treatment.