OBJECTIVETo explore the isometric attachment site of knee lateral collateral ligament (LCL) in the femoral lateral condyle; to introduce the isometric reconstruction of knee lateral collateral ligament with the long head of biceps femoris tendon.

METHODSAmong 16 patients with knee injury treated with isometric reconstruction of the lateral collateral ligament, 10 patients were male and 6 patients were female, with an average age of 38.4 years (ranged from 20 to 58 years). Twelve patients were chronic injuries, four patients were acute injuries, with an average duration of 5 days to 11 months. Eleven patients had simple LCL injury,3 patients had LCL injury combined with PCL injury, 2 patients had LCL injury combined with ACL injury. The middle one third of the long head of biceps femoris tendon was cut to be fixed to the isometic bony tunnel of the femoral lateral condyle. The lateral stability of the knee was evaluated mainly through varus stress test.

RESULTSThe better isometric attachment site is from the anatomical caput fibulae attachment site or the middle one third of the long head of biceps femoris to the femoral lateral condyle to 8-10 mm in front of the anatomical femoral attachment site of the lateral collateral ligament. The average follow-up period was 13.5 months (ranged from 12 to 24 months). At the 12th month after operation, there was no varus instability in full extension. At 30 degrees flexion, one-grade varus instability was found in 2 patients. In varus stress test the lateral joint space increased less than 5 mm compared to the healthy side.

CONCLUSIONThe method provided good stability for the knee and acquired satisfactory clinical results.