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Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy
Published in: Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy 12/2023

13-11-2023 | KNEE

The apex of the deep cartilage is a stable landmark to position the femoral tunnel during remnant-preserving anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

Authors: Keying Zhang, Qingyang Meng, Jingwei Zhang, Yitian Gao, Yuping Yang, Ping Liu, Cheng Wang, Yong Ma, Weili Shi

Published in: Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy | Issue 12/2023

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to investigate whether the apex of the deep cartilage (ADC) could help surgeons position the femoral tunnel accurately in remnant-preserving anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction (ACLR).

Methods

In the current retrospective cohort study, a total of 134 patients who underwent ACLR between 2016 and 2020 were included. The femoral tunnel position was located using ADC as the landmark. The patients were divided into two groups: the remnant-preserving group (RP group, n = 68) underwent remnant-preserving ACLR, and the nonremnant group (NRP group, n = 66) underwent traditional ACLR with remnant removal. Postoperatively, the femoral tunnel position was evaluated on 3D-CT. The length from the ADC to the shallow cartilage margin (L) and to the centre of the femoral tunnel (l) and the length from the centre of the femoral tunnel to a low cartilage ratio in the direction from high to low (H) were measured.

Results

The l/L values of the RP and NRP groups were both 0.4 ± 0.1 after rounding (n.s.), and the H values were 9.3 ± 1.6 mm and 9.3 ± 1.7 mm, respectively (n.s.). There was no significant difference in l/L or H between the two groups. The estimation plot also showed high consistency of H and l/L of the two groups. The inter- and intraobserver reliability of I, L, l/L, and H were almost perfect.

Conclusions

The apex of the deep cartilage is a good landmark for positioning the femoral tunnel in remnant-preserving ACL reconstruction.

Level of evidence

Level III.
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Metadata
Title
The apex of the deep cartilage is a stable landmark to position the femoral tunnel during remnant-preserving anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction
Authors
Keying Zhang
Qingyang Meng
Jingwei Zhang
Yitian Gao
Yuping Yang
Ping Liu
Cheng Wang
Yong Ma
Weili Shi
Publication date
13-11-2023
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy / Issue 12/2023
Print ISSN: 0942-2056
Electronic ISSN: 1433-7347
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00167-023-07656-w

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