1.Arthroscopic"Three Suture-Trident Star"technique for fixation of avulsion fractures at the tibial insertion of the anterior cruciate ligament
Chao SUN ; Wen XU ; Xue CHEN ; Qingling WANG ; Chaoya XUE ; Yu MEI
Chinese Journal of Sports Medicine 2024;43(8):597-604
Objective To explore the clinical efficacy of the arthroscopic"Three Suture-Trident Star"technique in treating avulsion fractures of the distal point of the anterior cruciate ligament(ACL).Meth-ods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 46 patients undergoing the arthroscopic"Three Suture-Trident Star"technique for ACL distal point avulsion fractures between January 2019 and January 2022.The physical examinations(including stability and mobility),International Knee Documentation Committee(IKDC)scores,Tegner activity level scores,visual analogue scale(VAS)scores,postopera-tive satisfaction,complications,and return-to-sports time were compared among before the operation,as well as 6 and 12 months after the operation,respectively.Results The average age of the 46 pa-tients,26 male and 20 female,was 37.6±10.3 years.Their average follow-up period was 14.4±2.7 months.The IKDC scores before surgery and at 6 and 12 months postoperatively were 59.7±5.4,86.1±5.7,and 89.5±5.0(P<0.001),respectively,the corresponding Lysholm scores,Tegner scores and VAS scores were 56.7±5.0,84.8±4.4 and 90.6±4.2(P<0.001),0.5±0.3,4.6±1.7 and 6.6±2.1(P<0.001),as well as 7.1±1.1,1.7±1.0 and 0.7±0.8(P<0.001),respectively.Postoper-ative satisfaction was rated as excellent in 42 cases,good in 3 cases,and fair in 1,with a good-to-excellent rate of 97.8%.The physical examinations at 6 and 12 months postoperatively were of nega-tive results in the anterior drawer and Lachman tests,while the average return-to-sports time was 8.3±2.5 months.All patients had primary healing of the avulsion fractures without any postoperative com-plications such as infection,joint stiffness,displacement or loosening of the fracture block,or mal-union,and none required secondary surgery.Conclusion The arthroscopic"Three Suture-Trident Star"technique demonstrates significant clinical efficacy in treating patients with avulsion fractures of the ACL distal point,effectively restoring postoperative joint stability and function.