[Treatment of inveterate knee ligament lesions with alloplastic material (author's transl)]

Early surgical treatment of a complex instability of the knee joint is not always possible. Even the autologous ligament graft indicated in such a case is not always successful. Furthermore, there is often a lack of autologous material due to previous operations. A textile polyester ligament, developed at the BG-Unfallklinik in Frankfurt, was used since August 1980 in order to perform corrective plastic surgery in eleven patients suffering from a chronical rotation instability repeatedly operated upon. The various problems connected with this method are mentioned: structure and shape, tissue tolerance, lasting stability, durable and solid fixation of the implant. The results are classified according to different criteria and compared to those of autologous ligament grafts. The "very good" results achieved with alloplastic material are due to the better stability. Therefore the application of textile synthetic ligaments can possibly reduce the well-known problems of corrective surgical interventions only feasible by means of grafts.