Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 13, 2026
Athymic Rat Model for Evaluation of Engineered Anterior Cruciate Ligament Grafts
Published on: March 26, 2015
Tibial footprint for single anatomical anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction by the meniscal reference point: the
Nitis Reeboonlap1, Nattha Kulkamthorn, Korakot Charakorn
1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Phramongkutklao Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand. nwrbl@yahoo.com
Objective:
ACL reconstruction is the gold standard for the torn ACL. To perform the anatomic reconstruction, knowledge of the footprint location is important. The femoral footprint was described in many studies, but the tibial footprint has less information. The authors study the relationship of ACL tibial footprint by using the meniscuses as landmark.
Material And Method:
20 knee specimens from the anatomy department were obtained and dissected. The footprint area was determined by locating the tibial stump of ACL first, isolated it from another structures, the footprint size was measured and then the mid portion of the footprint was identified. The relationship between the meniscuses to the mid portion of the ACL tibial footprint was determined.
Results:
The authors have found that the mid portion of the A CL tibial footprint in all of specimens was located anterior to the posterior border of anterior horn of lateral meniscus, with the average of 3.2 +/- 0.25 millimeters.
Conclusion:
The meniscuses can be used as landmark to locate the footprint of the tibial part of the ACL. The mid portion of the ACL tibial footprint is anterior to the posterior border of anterior horn of lateral meniscus. This information will help the surgeons to locate the footprint with more accuracy while performing the anatomic ACL reconstruction.
