Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction by mini-arthrotomy.

We present 50 consecutive patients with chronic anterior cruciate deficiency treated by reconstruction of the ligament through a limited arthrotomy using the middle third of the patellar tendon as a graft. The patients were all men with a mean age of 26 years (range 17 to 36 years) with an average follow up of 24 months. There were good or excellent results as measured by the Lysholm score in 41, and in 27 with the ARPEGE score. Movements were full in 46 and retropatellar pain was experienced by 4.