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. 2025 Mar 6;12(1):e70130.
doi: 10.1002/jeo2.70130. eCollection 2025 Jan.

No impact of graft size or time to surgery on anterior tibial translation under weight-bearing following ACL reconstruction

Tomas Pineda  1   2   3 , Nicolas Cance  4 , Michael J Dan  5   6   7 , Guillaume Demey  4 , David H Dejour  4
Affiliations

No impact of graft size or time to surgery on anterior tibial translation under weight-bearing following ACL reconstruction

Tomas Pineda et al. J Exp Orthop. .

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of graft size and time between injury to surgery (TBIS) on static anterior tibial translation (SATT) and dynamic anterior tibial translation (DATT) after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction.

Methods: A consecutive series of patients treated with primary ACL reconstruction using hamstring autograft was reviewed. Preoperative SATT, DATT and posterior tibial slope (PTS) were measured with a previously validated technique by two independent reviewers on lateral weight-bearing knee radiographs. Regression analysis was performed to assess the relationship between postoperative-preoperative SATT difference (Δ SATT) and postoperative-preoperative DATT difference (Δ DATT) with graft size and TBIS.

Results: In total, 66 patients were included in this study. The mean preoperative SATT and DATT were 2.41 (standard deviation [SD] 2.98) and 9.09 (SD 3.19), respectively. The mean postoperative SATT and DATT were 2.14 (SD 2.47) and 5.28 (SD 2.55), respectively. The mean graft size was 8.4 mm (SD 8.4; range 7.75-10), and the median TBIS was 3 months (range 1-275). Linear regression analysis showed no correlation between graft size and Δ SATT (p = 0.060) and Δ DATT (p = 0.979) and no correlation between TBIS and Δ SATT (p = 0.817) and Δ DATT (p = 0.811).

Conclusion: Our results suggest that larger graft sizes or shorter times between injury and reconstruction do not impact the reduction of SATT or DATT following ACL reconstruction.

Level of evidence: Level IV, retrospective cohort study.

Keywords: anterior cruciate ligament; dynamic anterior tibial translation; graft size; static anterior tibial translation; surgery time.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of patients who underwent primary ACL reconstruction between March and December 2022 and the selection process of the final cohort. ACL, anterior cruciate ligament; BTB, bone‐tendon‐bone; QT, quadriceps tendon.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Lateral knee radiograph demonstrating posterior tibial slope (PTS) measurement of PTS in monopodal weight‐bearing x‐rays. PTS (A) is the angle formed between a line (B) perpendicular to the tibial diaphyseal axis (A) and the line (C) tangent to the most superior points at the anterior and posterior edges of the medial plateau.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Lateral knee radiograph demonstrating static anterior tibial translation (SATT) measurement of SATT in monopodal weight‐bearing x‐rays. The posterior tibial cortex is the reference (line A). Two lines are traced parallel to line A and tangent to the posterior part of the medial plateau (line B) and medial femoral condyle (line C). SATT is the distance between lines B and C.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Lateral knee radiograph demonstrating dynamic tibial translation measurement of dynamic anterior tibial translation in Telos procedure x‐rays. The posterior tibial cortex is the reference (line A). Two lines are traced parallel to line A and tangent to the posterior part of the medial plateau (line B) and medial femoral condyle (line C). SATT is the distance between lines B and C.
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