Arthroscopically assisted reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament: initial clinical experience and minimal 2-year follow-up comparing endoscopic transtibial and two-incision techniques.

The purpose of this study was to determine the outcome of endoscopic Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) reconstruction and assess whether this technique modification offers any significant advantages over arthroscopically assisted reconstruction. A consecutive series of 90 athletically-active patients (67 males, 23 females) who underwent reconstruction for ACL deficiency using a patellar tendon autograft was retrospectively reviewed. The study group consisted of two treatment subgroups: Group 1-EA (Endoscopic-Assisted technique using no lateral femoral condylar incision) consisted of 45 patients with a mean age of 25 years (range 15 to 43 and Group 2-AA (Arthroscopic-Assisted technique using both anterior and lateral femoral condylar incisions) consisted of 45 patients with a mean age of 25 years (range 16 to 37). The study groups were evaluated at specific postoperative intervals with a mean follow-up in Group 1-EA of 30 months (range 24-37) and in Group 2-AA, 41 months (range 24 to 77). Serial KT-1000 results averaged 2 mm in both groups with 75% of Group 1-EA and 78% in Group 2-AA patients noted to have < or = 3 mm side-to-side differences. No statistically significant differences were noted for complications including patellofemoral pain, arthrofibrosis, harvest site pathology, or painful hardware. At ultimate follow-up however, this study suggests that both methods may result in similar and reproducible satisfactory outcome.