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Review
. 2018 Jun;52(11):698-701.
doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2017-098769. Epub 2018 Apr 28.

Quadriceps tendon autograft for arthroscopic knee ligament reconstruction: use it now, use it often

Andrew J Sheean  1 , Volker Musahl  1 , Harris S Slone  2 , John W Xerogeanes  3 , Danko Milinkovic  4 , Christian Fink  5 , Christian Hoser  5 ; International Quadriceps Tendon Interest Group
Collaborators, Affiliations
Review

Quadriceps tendon autograft for arthroscopic knee ligament reconstruction: use it now, use it often

Andrew J Sheean et al. Br J Sports Med. 2018 Jun.

Abstract

Traditional bone-patellar tendon-bone and hamstring tendon ACL grafts are not without limitations. A growing body of anatomic, biomechanical and clinical data has demonstrated the utility of quadriceps tendon autograft in arthroscopic knee ligament reconstruction. The quadriceps tendon autograft provides a robust volume of tissue that can be reliably harvested, mitigating the likelihood of variably sized grafts and obviating the necessity of allograft augmentation. Modern, minimally invasive harvest techniques offer the advantages of low rates of donor site morbidity and residual extensor mechanism strength deficits. New data suggest that quadriceps tendon autograft may possess superior biomechanical characteristics when compared with bone-patella tendon-bone (BPTB) autograft. However, there have been very few direct, prospective comparisons between the clinical outcomes associated with quadriceps tendon autograft and other autograft options (eg, hamstring tendon and bone-patellar tendon-bone). Nevertheless, quadriceps tendon autograft should be one of the primary options in any knee surgeon's armamentarium.

Keywords: ACL; arthroscopic surgery; knee injuries; quadriceps.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: LE is a member of the International Quadriceps Tendon Interest Group, and he was not part of the peer review process. The authors report the following conflicts of interest or sources of funding: JWX reports grants, personal fees and non-financial support from Arthrex during the conduct of the study; grants from Arthrex, outside the submitted work. The remaining authors have no disclosures relevant to the publication of this review.

MeSH terms