The results of 27 anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstructions were evaluated after a follow-up of 9 to 54 months. The central one third of the pateller tendon with proximal and distal bone plug was grafted through a small arthrotomy incision (open technique) to reconstruct the ACL in all cases.
The mean age of the patients was 22.7 years old. (renge, 15 to 43 years) The mean postoperative knee score of the Japanese Orthopaedic Association was 95.8 points. Relatively lower scores were seen in cases who already had degenerative osteoarthritis of the knee in the period of operation.
Testing with KT-1000 arthrometer was performed at 89N.
It revealed that the difference in the anterior laxity between the involved knee and contralateral knee improved from an average of 5.2mm preoperatively to 1.1mm postoperatively. All patients expressed satisfaction with the outcome.
Small arthrotomy incision showed no evidence of being a disadvantage to the results of the operation.
