Replacement of the anterior cruciate ligament of the knee with deep frozen bone-tendon-bone allografts.

Surgical treatment of the torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and consequent knee instability showed great development over the last decade. Arthroscopic techniques and the use of different allogenic tissues became a routine. Between 1995 and 1998, 31 knees in 30 patients underwent ACL reconstruction of the knee with fresh-frozen allografts at the Department of Orthopedics, Medical University of Pécs, Hungary. The operations were performed with arthroscopic technique. This paper retrospectively assesses the outcomes with an average follow up of 28 months, which showed good results in most of the cases. The authors reviewed the literature emphasizing advantages and disadvantages of the method with special interest to possible complications resulting from the use of allografts: graft rejection, graft re-rupture, transmission of infection and synovitis evoked by immune response.