Number of intra-operative cyclic knee motion required to achieve stable graft tension in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction; a prospective clinical study

Manato Horii; Ryuichiro Akagi; Shotaro Watanabe; Takahiro Enomoto; Hiroaki Hosokawa; Seiji Ohtori; Takahisa Sasho

doi:10.1186/s12891-024-07239-x

Number of intra-operative cyclic knee motion required to achieve stable graft tension in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction; a prospective clinical study

BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2024 Feb 5;25(1):113. doi: 10.1186/s12891-024-07239-x.

Authors

Manato Horii¹, Ryuichiro Akagi², Shotaro Watanabe³, Takahiro Enomoto², Hiroaki Hosokawa⁴, Seiji Ohtori³, Takahisa Sasho⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba, Chiba, 260-8670, Japan. aysa4702@cloud.chiba-u.jp.
² Oyumino Central Hospital, Knee Surgery and Sports Medicine Center, 6-49-9 Oyumino-Minami, Midori-Ku, Chiba, Chiba, 266-0033, Japan.
³ Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba, Chiba, 260-8670, Japan.
⁴ Department of Orthopedics, Toho University Sakura Medical Center, 564-1 Shimoshizu, Sakura, Chiba, 285-8741, Japan.
⁵ Center for Preventive Medicine, Musculoskeletal Disease and Pain, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba, Chiba, 260-8670, Japan.

Abstract

Background: Applying pretension by cyclic knee motion immediately before graft fixation in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction surgery decreases graft elongation during the postoperative course. However, the expected change in graft tension caused by cyclic knee motion remains unclear. We measured graft tension changes caused by cyclic knee motion during double-bundle ACL reconstruction.

Methods: We included 39 patients undergoing primary anatomical double-bundle ACL reconstruction with autologous hamstrings as graft sources, at multiple centers between February 2021 and August 2022. After securing the anteromedial (AM) and posterolateral (PL) bundle grafts to the femoral cortex, they were initially tensioned to 40 N per bundle. After 10 cycles of knee extension and flexion motion, ranging from 0 to 90-110°, tension was re-measured and re-tensioned to 40 N if the graft tension had decreased. This was repeated thrice for 10 cycles on each graft. Every 10 cycles, we recorded graft tension changes (ΔGT) and compared the mean ΔGT in the AM and PL bundles. Furthermore, we assessed relationships between total ΔGT in each bundle, age, sex, and graft diameter.

Results: Twenty-five women and 14 men with a mean age of 27.4 ± 12.4 years were included. The mean ΔGT in AM and PL bundles after every 10 cycles were 6.6 ± 3.7 N, 3.0 ± 2.3 N, 1.4 ± 1.5 N, and 9.9 ± 3.8 N, 4.9 ± 2.6 N, and 2.5 ± 1.9 N, respectively. There were significant differences in ΔGT in both bundles after every 10 cycles (p < 0.01). ΔGT in the AM bundle was significantly lower than in the PM bundle at the same number of cycles (p < 0.01). No correlation was observed between ΔGT in either bundle and age, sex, or graft diameter.

Conclusions: The initially applied graft tension decreased by intra-operative cyclic knee movement, and the changes in graft tension decreased after retention and repeated cycles. Three sets of 10 cycles knee motion may avoid initial tension loss of the hamstring autograft in the early phase after double-bundle ACL reconstruction.

Keywords: Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction; Cyclic knee motion; Graft tension; Hamstrings.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Anterior Cruciate Ligament / surgery
Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries* / surgery
Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction* / adverse effects
Biomechanical Phenomena
Female
Humans
Knee Joint / surgery
Male
Prospective Studies
Young Adult