OBJECTIVETo observe the outcome of ACL reconstruction with tibial-remnant preserving technique using hamstring autograft.

METHODSFrom January 2007 to June 2009,18 patients, including 11 male and 7 female with an average age of 28.2 years (from 18 to 42 years), received ACL reconstruction in Kunshan traditional Chinese medicine hospital, Jiangsu province. All cases were confirmed that the remnant of torn ACL were more than 1/3 by arthroscopic observation. The gracillis and semitendinosus tendons harvested from the patient were folded and weaved as a graft, which was pulled into the femoral and tibia tunnel through the sheath formed by the remnant preserved carefully, then fixed by Rigidfix at femoral side and Intrafix at tibial side respectively. The Lysholm scores were recorded at the last follow-up to evaluate the postoperative knee function. The knee stability, range of motion (ROM), and proprioception were evaluated by physical examination.

RESULTSThe average duration of follow-up of all 18 patients was 17.3 months (ranged from 15 to 24 months), no synovitis, graft tear, and ROM limitation were found. The average postoperative Lysholm score was (91.56 +/- 4.60) improved from preoperative (49.43 +/- 2.85) (P < 0.05). There were no differences between bilateral knees on the knee flexion (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONTo preserve the tibial remnant of torn ACL during ACL reconstruction had good outcomes, and contributed to recovery of knee proprioceptive function.