Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 9, 2025
Harvesting of Peroneus Longus Tendon Autograft
Published on: September 2, 2025
Patients with a quadriceps tendon shorter than 60 mm require a patellar bone plug autograft in anterior cruciate
Shinya Yamasaki1,2, Yusuke Hashimoto3, Changhun Han3
1Department of Orthopaedics Surgery, Osaka City General Hospital, 2-13-22, Miyakojima-hondori, Miyakojima-ku, Osaka, 534-0021, Japan. fcbackspin@hotmail.com.
Purpose:
To assess the length and thickness of the quadriceps tendon (QT) and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) to predict the required QT length for individual ACL reconstruction.
Methods:
Thirty patients (9 females, 21 males; mean age 24.5 years; mean height 169.3 cm) who underwent ACL reconstruction using the QT with a bone plug autograft were enrolled. The length and thickness of the QT on preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were compared with those measured under direct visualization. The ACL length was measured on preoperative MRI and three-dimensional computed tomography after ACL reconstruction. The QT length on MRI was compared with the required graft length, and the factors related to an adequate QT length were assessed.
Results:
The mean QT length on MRI was 60.8 ± 1.3 mm and was significantly positively correlated with the QT length under direct visualization (P < 0.01). On MRI, the mean ACL length was 30.8 ± 1.2 mm and the mean QT thickness was 6.3 ± 0.2 mm. Although the mean QT was 0.1 mm longer than the mean required graft length, the QT on MRI was shorter than the required graft length in 37% of patients (11/30). Adequate QT length was related to a QT length of more than 60 mm, but not to age, sex, height, or ACL length.
Conclusion:
Although preoperative MRI predicted the required QT length for ACL reconstruction, 37% of patients lacked an adequate QT length, and a QT shorter than 60 mm required the addition of patellar bone.
Level Of Evidence:
III.
