Tendon allografts in knee ligament surgery

This paper describes the experiences of the Orthopaedic Service and the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service in Edinburgh in establishing a tissue bank for allograft tendons used in knee ligament reconstruction surgery. Ninety-five tendons have been harvested from 23 donors, and 36 grafts have been implanted in 30 knees for either primary ligament reconstruction (group 1, 4 knees), revision ligament reconstruction (group 2, 11 knees), or in patients with multiple ligament deficiency (group 3, 15 knees). The basic science of ligament allografts, donor screening and the role of tendon allografts are reviewed.