Patella vs hamstring to repair ACL

[Loosh]

My son is 20 and plays college lacrosse. I would like to hear about doing the reconstruction with the hamstring vs the patella

[Kaputt_Knee]

Hello and welcome to Knee Geeks!

There is a very interesting and informative article about the pros and cons of all the types of grafts currently available to the majority of people in the Information Hub.

This links to one such article: http://www.kneeguru.co.uk/KNEEnotes/node/1760

The best bet is to go to the Cruciate Ligament section of the Information Hub (http://www.kneeguru.co.uk/KNEEnotes/node/2256) and really start reading there so you get a good background to the anatomy, injury and rehab as well as to the choices that can be made as to which type of graft.

In the end the most important factors governing the success or failure of the reconstruction are:

• the skill of the surgeon with that type of graft,
• the dedication of the patient in terms of pre-op preparation and rehab post-op
• the knowledge of your physiotherapist/physical therapist in helping you to overcome the various highs and lows of your rehab

Remember that a lot of what you read here in the Forum is skewed to having had bad outcomes at least once. People come here to learn often AFTER things have gone wrong. Thousands of ACL reconstructions are carried out every year without any mishaps or the need to find out about alternatives to what your current surgeon is proposing to do. The bad luck stories you read here are the EXCEPTIONS not the rule!

I have had both hamstring tendon and patella tendon grafts and find little difference between the outcomes. When I had my first patella tendon graft it was a totally new procedure and I had one of the first in my country. In those days it was done by means of open knee surgery, nowadays it is done arthroscopically.

Good luck and when you understand more about the possiblities, maybe come back and ask some more questions. Some surgeons swear by patella tendon grafts, others prefer hamstring grafts. Both are accpetable and have advantages and disadvantages. Apart from my first patella tendon graft, I have always gone with the graft my preferred surgeon uses. It is the one they are the most practiced with, things have only gone pear-shaped when the surgeon was unfamiliar with the procedure/graft I was given.


Sue 

[Snowy]

I had a hamstring graft, and have been more than happy with the long-term outcome of my surgery. Almost two years later my knee feels rock solid, I have no problems with any activities, and I've been able to return to skiing at a fairly demanding level (my main goal prior to surgery). My left hamstring, where the graft was taken, is slightly more prone to pulling than the other side if I don't warm up properly, but that's really the only residual effect from the graft harvest. The post-surgery rehab took about 8 months and was quite tedious, but well worth it in the end.

As kaputt_knee says, there are pros and cons to all of the graft types but the most important things are actually the surgeon's skill and experience, and dedication to the rehab process. Good luck to your son!