OBJECTIVE: To explore application value and effectiveness of virtual reality technology combined with isokinetic muscle strength training in the rehabilitation of patients after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction surgery. METHODS: Forty patients who underwent ACL reconstruction surgery from December 2021 to January 2023 were selected and divided into control group and observation group according to treatment methods, 20 patients in each group. Control group was received routine rehabilitation training combined with isokinetic muscle strength training, including 15 males and 5 females, aged from 17 to 44 years old, with an average of (29.10±8.60) years old. Observation group was performed virtual reality technology combined with isokinetic muscle strength training, including 16 males and 4 females, aged from 17 to 45 years old with an average of (30.95±9.11) years old. Lysholm knee joint score, knee extension peak torque, and knee flexion peak torque between two groups at 12 (before training) and 16 weeks (after training) after surgery were compared. RESULTS: All patients were followed up for 1 to 6 months with an average of (3.30±1.42) months. There were no statistically significant difference in Lysholm knee joint score, peak knee extension peak torque, and peak knee flexion peak torque between two groups (P>0.05) before training. After training, Lysholm knee joint score, knee extension peak torque, and knee flexion peak torque of both groups were improved compared to before training (P<0.05);there were significant difference in Lysholm knee joint score, knee extension peak torque, and knee flexion peak torque between two groups(P<0.05). CONCLUSION The application of virtual reality technology combined with isokinetic muscle strength training could promote recovery of knee joint function and enhance muscle strength in patients after ACL reconstruction surgery in further.
Male ; Female ; Humans ; Adolescent ; Young Adult ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries/surgery* ; Resistance Training ; Knee Joint/surgery* ; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction/methods* ; Knee Injuries/surgery* ; Muscle Strength/physiology*

OBJECTIVE: To summarize the evaluation methods of return to sports (RTS) after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) in recent years, in order to provide reference for clinical practice. METHODS: The literature related to the RTS after ACLR was searched from CNKI, Wanfang, PubMed, and Foreign Medical Information Resources Retrieval Platform (FMRS) databases. The retrieval range was from 2010 to 2023, and 66 papers were finally included for review. The relevant literature was summarized and analyzed from the aspects of RTS time, objective evaluation indicators, and psychological evaluation. RESULTS: RTS is the common desire of patients with ACL injury and doctors, as well as the initial intention of selecting surgery. A reasonable and perfect evaluation method of RTS can not only help patients recover to preoperative exercise level, but also protect patients from re-injury. At present, the main criterion for clinical judgement of RTS is time. It is basically agreed that RTS after 9 months can reduce the re-injury. In addition to time, it is also necessary to test the lower limb muscle strength, jumping, balance, and other aspects of the patient, comprehensively assess the degree of functional recovery and determine the different time of RTS according to the type of exercise. Psychological assessment plays an important role in RTS and has a good clinical predictive effect. CONCLUSION RTS is one of the research hotspots after ACLR. At present, there are many related evaluation methods, which need to be further optimized by more research to build a comprehensive and standardized evaluation system.
Humans ; Return to Sport/psychology* ; Reinjuries/surgery* ; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries/surgery* ; Lower Extremity/surgery* ; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction/methods*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the risk factors of contralateral anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury after primary ACL reconstruction. METHODS: A retrospective review was conducted on the 716 patients with ACL injury who received primary ACL reconstruction surgery and met the selection criteria between January 2012 and September 2018. After a mean follow-up period of 7.6 years (range, 4-10 years), 65 patients (9.1%) experienced contralateral ACL injury (injured group) and 651 patients (90.9%) did not (uninjured group). There was no significant difference in age, body mass index, and preoperative Lachman test degree between groups ( P>0.05). However, the proportion of female in the injured group was significantly higher than that of male ( P<0.05), and the preoperative posterior tibial slope (PTS) was significantly higher than that of the uninjured group ( P<0.05). Using the outcome of contralateral ACL injury as the dependent variable, the clinical data of the patient was first used as the independent variable, and univariate COX regression was used to analyze the prognostic influencing factors. Then, the indicators with differences in univariate COX regression were used as the independent variable, and multivariate COX regression was used to analyze the independent risk factors affecting prognosis. Log-Rank (Mantel-Cox) test was used to test and analyze the occurrence time of contralateral ACL injury in patients of different genders; X-tile software was used to analyze the occurrence time of contralateral ACL injury in patients with different PTS using Log-Rank (Mantel-Cox) test and PTS cut-off values. RESULTS: Univariate COX regression analysis showed that gender and PTS were influence factors for contralateral ACL injury ( P<0.05); further multivariate COX regression analysis showed that female and increased PTS were independent risk factors for contralateral ACL injury ( P<0.05). The Log-Rank (Mantel-Cox) test results showed that the contralateral ACL injury occurred in female at 8.853 (8.600, 9.106) years, which was significantly shorter than that in male [9.661 (9.503, 9.819) years] ( χ ²=20.323, P<0.001). Using X-tile software to analyze the cut-off value of PTS, it was found that the cut-off value of PTS for contralateral ACL injury was 10.92°. According to the Log-Rank (Mantel-Cox) test, it was found that the contralateral ACL injury occurred in 5.762 (4.981, 6.543) years in patients with PTS≥10.92°, which was significantly shorter than patients with PTS<10.92° [9.751 (9.650, 9.853) years]( χ ² =302.479, P<0.001). CONCLUSION Female and PTS≥10.92° after primary ACL reconstruction are independent risk factors for contralateral ACL injury.
Humans ; Male ; Female ; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries/surgery* ; Knee Joint/surgery* ; Risk Factors ; Tibia/surgery* ; Retrospective Studies ; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction/methods*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the changes of knee joint kinematics after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction assisted by personalized femoral positioner based on the apex of deep cartilage (ADC). METHODS: Between January 2021 and January 2022, a total of 40 patients with initial ACL rupture who met the selection criteria were randomly divided into the study group (using the personalized femoral positioner based on ADC design to assist ACL reconstruction) and the control group (not using the personalized femoral positioner to assist ACL reconstruction), with 20 patients in each group. Another 20 volunteers with normal knee were collected as a healthy group. There was no significant difference in gender, age, body mass index, and affected side between groups ( P>0.05). Gait analysis was performed at 3, 6, and 12 months after operation using Opti _ Knee three-dimensional knee joint motion measurement and analysis system, and the 6 degrees of freedom (flexion and extension angle, varus and valgus angle, internal and external rotation angle, anteroposterior displacement, superior and inferior displacement, internal and external displacement) and motion cycle (maximum step length, minimum step length, and step frequency) of the knee joint were recorded. The patients' data was compared to the data of healthy group. RESULTS: In the healthy group, the flexion and extension angle was (57.80±3.45)°, the varus and valgus angle was (10.54±1.05)°, the internal and external rotation angle was (13.02±1.66)°, and the anteroposterior displacement was (1.44±0.39) cm, the superior and inferior displacement was (0.86±0.20) cm, and the internal and external displacement was (1.38±0.39) cm. The maximum step length was (51.24±1.29) cm, the minimum step length was (45.69±2.28) cm, and the step frequency was (12.45±0.47) step/minute. Compared with the healthy group, the flexion and extension angles and internal and external rotation angles of the patients in the study group and the control group decreased at 3 months after operation, and the flexion and extension angles of the patients in the control group decreased at 6 months after operation, and the differences were significant ( P<0.05); there was no significant difference in the other time points and other indicators when compared with healthy group ( P>0.05). In the study group, the flexion and extension angles and internal and external rotation angles at 6 and 12 months after operation were significantly greater than those at 3 months after operation ( P<0.05), while there was no significant difference in the other indicators at other time points ( P>0.05). There was a significant difference in flexion and extension angle between the study group and the control group at 6 months after operation ( P<0.05), but there was no significant difference of the indicators between the two groups at other time points ( P>0.05). CONCLUSION Compared with conventional surgery, ACL reconstruction assisted by personalized femoral positioner based on ADC design can help patients achieve more satisfactory early postoperative kinematic results, and three-dimensional kinematic analysis can more objectively and dynamically evaluate the postoperative recovery of knee joint.
Humans ; Biomechanical Phenomena ; Knee Joint/surgery* ; Femur/surgery* ; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries/surgery* ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Cartilage/surgery* ; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction/methods*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effectiveness of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction assisted by personalized femoral locator based on the apex of deep cartilage (ADC) combined with patient imaging data. METHODS: Between January 2021 and January 2022, a total of 40 patients with primary ACL rupture were selected and randomly divided into study group (ACL reconstruction assisted by personalized femoral locator based on ADC) and control group (ACL reconstruction assisted by intraoperative fluoroscopy and traditional femoral locator), with 20 cases in each group. There was no significant difference in gender, age, body mass index, affected side, cause of injury, and preoperative International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) score, Lyshlom score, and Tegner score between the two groups ( P>0.05). IKDC score, Lyshlom score, and Tegner score were used to evaluate the functional recovery of the affected knee before operation and at 3, 6, and 12 months after operation. CT scan and three-dimensional reconstruction were performed before and after operation to measure the horizontal distance from ADC to the anterior cartilage margin (L) and the horizontal distance from ADC to the center of the femoral canal (I), and the anteroposterior position of the bone canal (R) was calculated by I/L; the distance from the center to the distal cartilage margin (D) was measured on the two-dimensional cross section; the R value and D value were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The operation time of the study group was significantly less than that of the control group [ MD=-6.90 (-8.78, -5.03), P<0.001]. The incisions of the two groups healed by first intention, and no complication such as intra-articular infection, nerve injury, and deep vein thrombosis of lower limbs occurred. There was no significant difference in the R value and D value between the preoperative simulated positioning and the actual intraoperative positioning in the study group [ MD=0.52 (-2.85, 3.88), P=0.758; MD=0.36 (-0.39, 1.11), P=0.351]. There was no significant difference in the actual intraoperative positioning R value and D value between the study group and the control group [ MD=1.01 (-2.57, 4.58), P=0.573; MD=0.24 (-0.34, 0.82), P=0.411]. The patients in both groups were followed up 12-13 months (mean, 12.4 months). The IKDC score, Lysholm score, and Tegner score of the two groups increased gradually with time, and there were significant differences between pre- and post-operation ( P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the scores between the two groups at each time point after operation ( P>0.05). CONCLUSION The personalized femoral locator based on ADC can accurately assist the femoral tunnel positioning in ACL reconstruction, which can shorten the operation time when compared with traditional surgical methods, and achieve satisfactory early effectiveness.
Humans ; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries/surgery* ; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction/methods* ; Cartilage/surgery* ; Knee Joint/surgery* ; Treatment Outcome

PURPOSE: To avoid potential problems of double-bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR), various modifications have been reported. This study analyzed a novel technique of modified double-bundle (MDB) ACLR without implant on tibial side in comparison to single-bundle (SB) ACLR. METHODS: Eighty cases of isolated anterior cruciate ligament tear (40 each in SB group or MDB group) were included. SB ACLR was performed by outside in technique with quadrupled hamstring graft fixed with interference screws. In MDB group, ACLR harvested tendons were looped over each other at the center and free ends whipstitched. Femoral tunnel was created by outside in technique. Anteromedial tibial tunnel was created with tibial guide at 55°. The anatomic posterolateral aiming guide (Smith-Nephew) was used to create posterolateral tunnel. With the help of shuttle sutures, the free end of gracillis was passed through posterolateral tunnel to femoral tunnel followed by semitendinosus graft through anteromedial tunnel to femoral tunnel. On tibial side the graft was looped over bone-bridge between external apertures of anteromedial and posterolateral tunnel. Graft was fixed with interference screw on femoral side in 10° knee flexion. International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC), Tegner score, Pivot shift and knee laxity test (KLT, Karl-Storz) were recorded pre- and post-surgery. At one year magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was done. Statistical analysis was done by SPSS software. RESULTS: Mean preoperative KLT reading of (10.00 ± 1.17) mm in MDB group improved to (4.10 ± 0.56) mm and in SB group it improved from (10.00 ± 0.91) mm to (4.80 ± 0.46) mm. The mean preoperative IKDC score in MDB group improved from (49.49 ± 8.00) to (92.5 ± 1.5) at one year and that in SB group improved from (52.5 ± 6.9) to (88.4 ± 2.6). At one-year 92.5% cases in MDB group achieved their preinjury Tegner activity level as compared to 60% in SB group. The improvement in IKDC, KLT and Tegner scale of MDB group was superior to SB group. MRI confirmed graft integrity at one year and clinically at 2 years. CONCLUSION MDB ACLR has shown better outcome than SB ACLR. It is a simple technique that does not require fixation on tibial side and resultant graft is close to native ACL.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Anterior Cruciate Ligament/surgery* ; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction/methods* ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prospective Studies ; Tibia/surgery* ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is an important stabiliser of the knee and is commonly torn in sports injuries. Common indications for imaging after ACL reconstruction include persistent symptoms, limitation of motion and re-injury. Important postoperative complications include graft failure, impingement, arthrofibrosis and graft degeneration. This article aimed to familiarise the radiologist with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging appearances of properly positioned intact ACL grafts and to provide a comprehensive review of MR imaging features of complications following ACL reconstruction.
Anterior Cruciate Ligament ; diagnostic imaging ; surgery ; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction ; adverse effects ; methods ; Humans ; Knee Joint ; diagnostic imaging ; surgery ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Postoperative Complications ; diagnostic imaging ; Transplants ; diagnostic imaging ; Wound Healing

PURPOSE: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) repair was first described in the mid 1900's. However, due to poorly selected patients led to unsatisfactory early results. We aim to study the outcome of ACL repair in a carefully selected cohort. METHODS: Thirteen consecutive patients of acute Type 1 (proximal ACL avulsion) were treated with arthroscopic ACL repair using a suture pull out technique. At the latest follow-up the patients were evaluated for Lysholm score, KT-1000 measurement and clinical assessment for any laxity. RESULTS: At a mean follow-up of 31.3 months, none of the patients had any subjective laxity. The mean Lysholm score was 95 and instrumented laxity measurement did not reveal any significant laxity compared to the opposite knee. CONCLUSION The proximal ACL avulsion has healing potential similar to proximal MCL injuries. Performing microfracture of the lateral wall of the notch optimizes the healing environment by negating the effects of the synovial fluid. Performing ACL repair in a carefully selected patient leads to good short term results and saves the patient of a reconstruction procedure, at least in the immediate future.
Adult ; Aged ; Anterior Cruciate Ligament ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction ; methods ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Fractures, Avulsion ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Humans ; Joint Instability ; Male ; Sutures ; Time Factors ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: To identify the femoral footprint of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in Koreans. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighteen embalmed cadaveric knees (mean age, 70 years) were examined. First, the shape of the ACL was determined macroscopically. After the ACL femoral footprint was defined, the ACL was cut from the femur and a Kirschner wire was inserted into the center of the ACL, and the position was verified with a C-arm. The position was quantified on the C-arm field using the quadrant method. The length and width of the ACL were measured. RESULTS: Macroscopically, the ACL is a flat single bundle with an average length of 34 mm and an average width of 9 mm. On average, the center of the ACL insertion site measured with the quadrant method was positioned at 29.5%±2.8% in an anterior direction (from posterior), and at 38.5%±3.2% in a distal direction (from Blumensaat's line). The anterior and posterior margins of the ACL femoral footprint were the resident's ridge and the cartilage margin of the lateral femoral condyle, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The center of the ACL femoral footprint is positioned more anteriorly and distally than the positions identified in previous studies.
Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction ; Anterior Cruciate Ligament ; Cadaver ; Cartilage ; Femur ; Knee ; Methods

PURPOSE: Tunnel widening following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction is commonly observed. Graft micromotion is an important contributing factor. Unlike fixed-loop devices that require a turning space, adjustable-loop devices fit the graft snugly in the tunnel. The purpose of this study is to compare tunnel widening between these devices. Our hypothesis is that the adjustable-loop device will create lesser tunnel widening. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ninety-eight patients underwent ACL reconstruction from January 2013 to December 2014. An adjustable-loop device was used in 54 patients (group 1) and a fixed-loop device was used in 44 patients (group 2). Maximum tunnel widening at 1 year was measured by the L’Insalata’s method. Functional outcome was measured at 2-year follow-up. RESULTS: The mean widening was 4.37 mm (standard deviation [SD], 2.01) in group 1 and 4.09 mm (SD, 1.98) in group 2 (p=0.511). The average International Knee Documentation Committee score was 78.40 (SD, 9.99) in group 1 and 77.11 (SD, 12.31) in group 2 (p=0.563). The average Tegner-Lysholm score was 87.25 (SD, 3.97) in group 1 and 87.29 in group 2 (SD, 4.36) (p=0.987). There was no significant difference in tunnel widening and functional outcome between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: The adjustable-loop device did not decrease the amount of tunnel widening when compared to the fixed-loop device. There was no significant difference in outcome between the two fixation devices. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 3, Retrospective Cohort
Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction ; Anterior Cruciate Ligament ; Arthroscopy ; Cohort Studies ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Knee ; Methods ; Retrospective Studies ; Transplants