[Arthroscopic tightening of the anterior cruciate ligament]

We present here the preliminary results obtained with arthroscopic tightening of the anterior cruciate ligament. Six patients underwent the technique. Four had had prior ligamentoplasty, two had sequelae of tibial spine fractures. Laxity persisted in all cases. The transplant or the ligament were continuous and insertion points were well-positioned. The procedure consisted in using a trephine to bore the tibial bone at the "foot" of the ligament or transplant in order to tighten the ligament. There was no evidence of instability after the arthroscopic tightening procedure. Mean pre- and postoperative differential anterior drawer values were successively 9.2 and 3.9 mm. For native or reconstructed anterior cruciate ligaments, which are continuous and well-positioned but not loose, arthroscopic tightening spares the need for ligament transplant and appears to be free of specific morbidity.