[Knee dislocation: concurrent arthroscopic ACL and PCL reconstruction - operating technique]

Injuries involving knee luxation or subluxation generally result in damage to two or three out of the four major ligaments which stabilize this joint. Past treatment of this type of multiligament injuries, consisting in 6- to 12-week immobilization in a plaster cast, does not allow for restoration of the normal, anatomical course of these ligaments. A consequence of this type of healing, which involves the formation of random scars in place of ligaments, is mechanical and functional instability of the knee joint. The goal of this article is to present a classification of multiligament knee injuries and surgical treatment options. We also present our own technique of arthroscopic, concurrent reconstruction of knee joint ligaments. The study material consisted of 20 patients who underwent surgical treatment for multiligament knee injuries in the Department of Pediatric Orthopedics and Traumatology in Poznań. We performed concurrent arthroscopic reconstruction of ACL and PCL in all 20 patients. In addition, reconstruction of the medial complex was performed in 7 patients, and lateral complex was reconstructed in another 7 patients. In three cases we stitched the medial meniscus using a Smith & Nephew FasT-Fix system, and partial menisectomy was performed in 2 patients. The details of the proposed concurrent arthroscopic ACL and PCL reconstruction are extensively discussed. One of the advantages of this operating technique is the exclusive use of autogenous ST and GR tendon grafts for reconstruction of all damaged knee joint structures. The presented operating technique makes possible the reconstruction of all damaged knee joint ligaments in less than two hours, which in turn allows the surgery to be performed in an ischemic setting using an Esmarch band around the limb.