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Dacron ligament reconstruction for chronic anterior cruciate ligament insufficiency

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Lahey Clinic Medical Center, Burlington

John C. Richmond, MD

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, New England Medical Center Hospital and Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts

We report the 5-year follow-up results of a prospective, multicenter study evaluating the use of a Dacron pros thetic ligament in reconstruction of anterior cruciate- deficient knees. The study group consisted of 84 pa tients, followed for at least 5 years. The patients were divided into 2 groups: 50 patients with isolated anterior cruciate ligament laxity (Group 1) and 34 patients with a failed previous anterior cruciate ligament surgery or combined laxities (Group 2). Two surgical techniques were employed: reconstruction through drill holes in the tibia and femur (30 patients) and reconstruction using the over-the-top position with the Dacron ligament wrapped in a strip of iliotibial band (54 patients).

The overall failure rate was 35.7% at 5 years. The failure rate at 2 years was 20%, illustrating a significant deterioration of results between the two follow-up in tervals. Evaluation of subjective criteria using the Lysh olm score showed an improvement from preoperative status at the 2-year followup; however, there was a slight decline when 5-year results were evaluated. Teg ner activity levels increased from a mean of 2.9 ± 2.1 at the preoperative visit, to a mean of 4.9 ± 2.0 at the 2-year followup and a mean of 5.0 ± 2.0 at the 5-year visit.

These results show that the Dacron ligament pros thesis achieves the short-term goal of restoring stability and improving function and may be sufficient to provide long-term stability for the anterior cruciate-deficient knee.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. B. FRANK and D. W. JACKSON Current Concepts Review - The Science of Reconstruction of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament J. Bone Joint Surg. Am., October 1, 1997; 79(10): 1556 - 76. [Full Text]