[Progression of arthrosis after alloplasty--what factors play a role?]

From 87 patients who underwent anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery with an alloplastic ligament (Trevira hochfest) the radiographs of 77 patients were examined by 2 physicians, who were not involved in the operation. They evaluated the increase of degenerative osteoarthritis according to the classification by Holz [12] finding a significant increase of degenerative osteoarthritis after surgery with a mean follow-up of 41.2 months. The ligament reconstruction was performed in 50 fresh ACL tears by reinsertion plus synthetic ligament protection and in 27 chronic instabilities with several failed previous operations by using the alloplastic ligament as an ACL prosthesis by means of a salvage procedure. Both investigators found a significant increase of degenerative osteoarthritis in both groups, but the chronically instable knees had a higher initial value. Patients with concomitant meniscus and/or posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) ruptures showed the highest increase of osteoarthritic changes; isolated ACL tears were found with very low degeneration. Considering the special profile of our collective, the factors that were found to as a risk of osteoarthritis and the comparison with the literature we could not find any indication for a relevantly increased risk of osteoarthritic progression using the Trevira hochfest ligament.