Cruciate ligament revision

 

What constitutes ACL reconstruction failure?

ACL graft failure after surgical reconstruction is not always a catastrophic event. Failure may also include laxity and instability, and further damage to other structures.

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How does an ACL revision differ from the original ACL reconstruction?

Generally the original ACL reconstruction would have used the patient's own patellar tendon (B-PT-B) or hamstrings tendon. The problem is that if that procedure fails then the patient no longer has a fully healthy tendon for the revision surgery.

Patient and surgeon may decide on harvesting tendons from the other side, using a different tendon (like quads tendon) or using an allograft (from a tissue lab.) or an artificial ligament. It is also an option to augment a tendon procedure with artificial material.

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Forum discussions

• please give advice an graft selection, im freaking out.

  A long discussion with a patient having a primary reconstruction, but there is a lot of experience there with revision procedures also.

• Quadriceps tendon graft

  A patient has had ACL graft failure of his hamstrings graft, and is asking about how challenging rehabilitation might be if the surgeon uses the quads tendon next.

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