Arthroscopic reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament. A comparison of patellar tendon autograft and four-strand hamstring tendon autograft.

We compared the outcome of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using hamstring tendon autograft with outcome using patellar tendon autograft at 2 years after surgery. Patients had an isolated anterior cruciate ligament injury and, apart from the grafts, the arthroscopic surgical technique was identical. Prospective assessment was performed on 90 patients with isolated anterior cruciate ligament injury undergoing reconstruction with a patellar tendon autograft; 82 were available for follow-up. The hamstring tendon autograft group consisted of the next 90 consecutive patients fulfilling the same criteria; 85 were available for follow-up. Clinical review included the Lysholm and International Knee Documentation Committee scores, instrumented testing, thigh atrophy, and kneeling pain. These methods revealed no difference between the groups in terms of ligament stability, range of motion, and general symptoms. Thigh atrophy was significantly less in the hamstring tendon group at 1 year after surgery, a difference that had disappeared by 2 years. The KT-1000 arthrometer testing showed a slightly increased mean laxity in the female patients in the hamstring tendon graft group. Kneeling pain after reconstruction with the hamstring tendon autograft was significantly less common than with the patellar tendon autograft, suggesting lower donor-site morbidity with hamstring tendon harvest.