Knee stability after surgical anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction using quadrupled hamstring tendons graft (gracilis and semitendinosus) was compared with that using the middle third of the patellar ligament. All subjects participating in this study had ACL rupture diagnosed by clinical examination and MRI and underwent identical surgical procedure apart from the choice of graft. A total of 112 patients with either patellar ligament or quadrupled hamstring tendons graft were evaluated for 24 months following surgery. Patients were similar in terms of age, sex, activity level, knee instability level and rehabilitation programme. Clinical tests and a measuring instrument, the KT-1000 arthrometer, were used to evaluate knee stability after reconstruction. During the 24-month study there were no significant differences in clinical stability of the knee and the use of both grafts resulted in satisfactory knee stability. The difference between the groups according to the graft was noticed 6 months after reconstruction when the results obtained by a measuring instrument showed that knee stability was significantly higher with the patellar ligament graft (Fisher's exact test, p=0.022).
Keywords: Anterior cruciate ligament; Hamstring tendons; Patellar ligament; Reconstruction; Stability.
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