The results of fresh-frozen patellar tendon allografts for chronic anterior cruciate ligament deficiency of the knee.

This prospective study was done to evaluate the clinical outcome of fresh-frozen patellar bone-tendon-bone allograft tissue used as a substitute for chronic insufficiency of the anterior cruciate ligament. Forty-one patients were followed at a mean of 27 months after surgery. The mean time from injury to reconstruction was 34 months. The same operative procedure and postoperative rehabilitation was performed on each patient. The evaluation method consisted of subjective, objective, and instrumented laxity testing. Thirty-seven patients (90%) thought their knee was normal or improved after surgery and had no further episodes of giving way. The combined modified Hughston Knee Score revealed 30 patients (73%) with an excellent or good result and 9 patients (22%) with a fair or poor result. The mean postoperative Lysholm Knee Score was 91 (range, 56 to 100). Thirty-two had a negative pivot shift (78%). The postoperative KT-1000 arthrometer revealed 37 patients had an injured-to-uninjured difference of 5 mm or less (mean, 1.32 mm; range, 0 to 5). There were three traumatic failures at 24 months postoperatively in this group. There was no rejection phenomenon noted postoperatively. In addition, clinical observation showed less postoperative morbidity when compared to a matched autogenous patellar tendon control group.