Clinical outcomes of primary anatomic all-inside Anterior Cruciate Ligament reconstruction using the TransLateral...

Anatomic all-inside Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) reconstruction using the TransLateral technique is relatively new. This technique utilises single tendon autograft and instruments permitting inside-to-out drilling to create retrograde sockets. Few studies have investigated clinical outcomes following this technique. We investigate clinical outcomes in patients who underwent primary anatomic all-inside ACL reconstruction using the TransLateral technique with a minimum one-year follow-up.

Interrogation of our prospectively maintained database identified patients who underwent surgery from June 2013 to December 2017. Patients were followed up clinically and using patient-reported outcome measures (PROMS) including EQ-5D, KOOS, IKDC and Tegner scores from the National Ligament Registry. Paired two-tailed Student t-test was used to assess for clinical significance.

One hundred forty-one cases with a mean age of 30 years (range 16.0-60.2) and mean follow-up of 17.4 months (12.1-75.2) were included. Grafts included isolated quadrupled semitendinosus (n = 115) and both quadrupled semitendinosus and gracilis (n = 26). One hundred and two patients (72.3%) had complete peri-operative PROMS. Mean increases in EQ-5D VAS and IKDC scores were 18.9 and 29.2 points (p < 0.001). Significant peri-operative improvements were observed for all KOOS domains (p < 0.001). Median Tegner activity score increased by two levels (p < 0.001). Incidence of graft re-rupture was 5.7% (n = 8), all were following significant knee trauma and seven cases were mid-bundle femoral tunnel placements.

All-inside ACL reconstruction using the TransLateral technique demonstrates good clinical and functional outcomes with low complication and failure rate. Mid-bundle femoral tunnel placements have been abandoned in favour of placement deep within the anteromedial bundle footprint.