Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: A 2015 global perspective of the Magellan Society

The Magellan Society is composed of > 150 high-volume fellowship-trained sports surgeons from four continents. These surgeons represent their regional sports organisations in travelling fellowships and are considered to be opinion leaders in their respective organisations. Prior to the 2014 Magellan Meeting in Arima, Japan, a survey was conducted to understand how Magellan members perform anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. This study aims to better understand how ACL reconstruction is performed by sports surgeons worldwide and to determine differences in surgical practice.

A survey was conducted prior to the Magellan Meeting in Arima, Japan. Information on ACL graft of choice for primary surgery and revision surgery, preferred surgical techniques, and femoral and tibial graft fixation methods was collected. The incidence of meniscal tears and the management of injuries in ACL surgery were also studied. The results of the survey are discussed in this article.

A response rate of 51% (72 member respondents) was achieved for this survey. Hamstring autograft (58%) was the graft of choice for primary ACL reconstruction. The next most common autograft used was bone patella tendon bone autograft (28%). Allograft was the graft of choice in only 4% of respondents. The region of origin of surgeons and the age of surgeons were factors in the ACL graft of choice. Seventy-five percent of surgeons practised single-bundle ACL reconstructions only, 22% performed both single-bundle and double-bundle ACL reconstructions, and 3% performed double-bundle ACL reconstructions exclusively. Sixty-two percent of the respondents drilled femoral tunnels using the anteromedial portal technique. Meniscus repairs were performed in 25% of ACL reconstructions, on average.

Based on the survey, hamstring transportal anatomic single-bundle ACL reconstruction with meniscus preservation is the preferred ACL reconstruction technique of high-volume fellowship-trained sports surgeons.