Repair of chronic ruptures of the anterior cruciate ligament using allograft reconstruction and a ligament augmentation device.

A prospective study was performed to determine the effect of a ligament augmentation device (LAD) on the replacement of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) using tendon allografts. Twenty-five patients were followed for 66 to 98 months after tendon allograft replacement with LAD reinforcement for ACL rupture. The evaluation was done using the form of the International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC), the Lysholm score and the Tegner scale. Two patients sustained a rerupture after major injury. Three other multiply-injured patients scored poorly because of associated injuries and fractures (IKDC grade D). Four patients scored normal (grade A), 12 patients nearly normal (grade B), and 5 patients abnormal (grade C). The Lysholm score showed 14 excellent (average 96), 5 good (average 86) and 4 fair results (average 76). Three patients with excellent results were IKDC grade C, solely because the xrays showed slight narrowing of the medial joint line, which might indeed indicate future problems. On the Tegner scale, the sports level decreased by an average of 1.4 points (from 7.25 to 5.83). Only five patients showed an anteroposterior displacement of more than 3 mm, of which only one was in the grade C group.