A follow-up arthroscopy after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using the patellar tendon augmented by woven...

Follow-up arthroscopy was performed on 9% patients who had undergone anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction with patellar tendon augmented by woven polyester. The interval between surgery and arthroscopy ranged from 6 to 26 months, with a mean of 13.1 months. The patients were classified into 4 grades according to the arthroscopical findings as follows: grade 1, ligamentous tissue ruptured or not observed; grade II, loose and thin ligamentous tissue observed; grade III, thick and taut ligamentous tissue observed, but some ligamentous strands exposed from the synovial tissue: grade IV, thick and taut ligamentous tissue with a synovial tissue observed, as in normal ACL. Based on the arthroscopical findings, 4 of the 92 patients were rated as grade I, 11 as grade II, 24 as grade III, and 53 as grade IV. Correlation between the arthroscopical and functional test results indicated that the mean injured-to-uninjured differences of KT-1000 measurements were significantly smaller in the grade IV group than in the grade I and grade II groups (p < 0.05). These results suggest that postoperative anterior knee laxity correlate significantly with arthroscopical results, and is a useful parameter for evaluating ACL reconstruction.