Clinical outcomes of percutaneous reconstruction of anterolateral ligament in anterior cruciate ligament-deficient knee in skeletally mature patients

Background Rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of the most common sports injuries of the knee joint. The results of combined ACL and anterolateral ligament (ALL) reconstruction have shown a significant improvement in clinical outcome. Objectives To evaluate clinical outcomes of combined ACL and ALL reconstruction in ACL-deficient knee. Patients and methods This study included 20 patients aged from 21 to 45 years, who presented with ACL-deficient knee. Combined ACL and ALL reconstruction were performed to all cases. Patients were followed up for 24 months postoperatively. Patient assessment included preinjury, preoperative and postoperative subjective and objective International Knee Documentation Committee, Tegner activity scale, and Lysholm scores. Results Our study showed that the postoperative mean Lysholm knee score (94.20 ± 4.55) was significantly improved than preoperative (65.62 ± 3.42) (P<0.001) and there were 17 (85%) patients postoperatively with an excellent score. Also, postoperative mean Tegner activity score and International Knee Documentation Committee (8.22 ± 1.64 and 87.25 ± 8.71, respectively) were significantly improved than the preoperative (6.73 ± 1.21 and 52.71 ± 11.35, respectively) values (P=0.031 and P<0.001, respectively). The instrumented knee laxity test was performed using a KT-1000 arthrometer where the mean of postoperative translation (3.28 ± 0.74 mm) was significantly lower than the preoperative (11.15 ± 0.82 mm) (P<0.001) value. Conclusion Our technique of combined ACL and ALL reconstruction was found to be effective in improving subjective and objective outcomes. Also, no serious complications were noted with this operative procedure.