Acute repair of the anterior cruciate ligament with lateral capsular augmentation

Forty-seven patients had primary repair and extraarticular augmentation with a lateral loop of the iliotibial tract for acute rupture of the ACL. (All of these patients had anterolateral rotatory instability (ALRI) preoperatively as diagnosed by a positive jerk test.) Of these 47 patients, 36 were available for follow-up evaluation. Followup ranged from 6 to 68 months (average, 21.6 months). Twenty-three of the patients (64%) were rated as excellent or good. Ten of the patients (27.8%) were rated as fair, and three patients (8%) were rated as poor. Thirty-three of the 36 patients (91%) were objectively free of ALRI as tested by the jerk test and had 1+ or less result in a Lachman test, with a firm end point. Only one patient felt his knee to be unstable (he had a positive pivot jerk). More than 90% of the patients returned to sport, and 72% returned at their preinjury level.