LivD_ACLR

Research summary The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is a major stabiliser of the knee and important when performing activities such as jumping or changing direction. Following a rupture (a complete tear) of the this ligament the current advice is to undergo anterior ligament reconstruction. Different materials can be used to reconstruct the torn ligament. In the majority of cases around the world, tendon material taken from somewhere else in the patient is preferred, particularly the hamstring or patellar tendons.

ACL rupture is being increasingly identified in children and skeletally immature patients. Literature on this subject reports poor outcomes those who do not have the ligament repaired. The choice of graft material in children is more difficult. Patients who have not fully grown have smaller tendons than adults, making them less suitable for use in reconstructive surgery. Furthermore, the effect of harvesting tendons from the growing skeleton is not fully understood and there are concerns about possible growth disturbances. Using allograft (tendon from other people - usually organ donors, is expensive and carries a small risk of transmission of infection) We wish to use a technique that is being used in a leading hospital in Sydney, Australia, that sees and treats a large volume of these patients and where the lead surgeon for this study worked. The technique involves the use of donor hamstring tendons, whereby an adult (usually a parent) agrees to donate their hamstring tendons that are dissected out of them and implanted into the child. The technique has the advantage of leaving the child's own tendons in tact, and having a larger sized tendon from a parent/relative. This is not current practice in the UK yet.