Metallic versus bioabsorbable interference screw for fixation of bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft in arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. A preliminary report.

We retrospectively compared the clinical outcome and the radiographic incorporation of the bone blocks between two groups of patients undergoing anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using either metallic or bioabsorbable interference screws for fixation of the bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft. Sixty-nine patients (44 male and 25 female) were available for follow-up. There were 31 patients with a mean age of 33 years (range 16-59 years) in group I (bioabsorbable interference screw fixation) and 38 patients with a mean age of 32 years (range 18-58) in group II (metallic screw fixation). The mean follow-up was 9.6 months after surgery in group I (range 6-17 months) and 20.5 months in group II (range 6-32 months). At follow-up, the IKDC scores were comparable between the two groups, and there was no statistically significant difference for the Lysholm (P = 0.925) and Tegner (P = 0.197) scores. The KT-2000 tests showed a statistically insignificant mean side-to-side difference of 2.0 mm (+2.2 mm SD) in group I and 2.2 mm (+2.4 mm SD) in group II (P = 0.741). At follow-up, all patients showed osseous incorporation of the bone block autografts within the femoral and tibial bone tunnels with no osteolytic changes.