Reconstruction and Repair of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL)
Reconstruction and repair of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) are both effective in restoring knee stability following ACL injury. This was demonstrated by applying force to cadaveric knees at different degrees of flexion to simulate normal forces experienced by a human knee in various positions (see image). Motion tracking was used to determine how far the tibia moved forward in relation to the femur and the degree of knee rotation in different directions. Testing was performed on knees with intact ACLs, damaged ACLs, and reconstructed or repaired ACLs. As expected, knees in the damaged ACL state allowed for the tibia to excessively slide forward in relation to the tibia. Although no differences were observed for rotation of the knee in any direction between the groups, repair and reconstruction of the ACL both allowed for the degree of forward movement of the tibia to be restored to that of the intact state. Given these results, further study of the long-term outcomes following ACL reconstruction versus repair is warranted.