Quantitative evaluation of anterior tibial translation during isokinetic motion in knees with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using either patellar or hamstring tendon grafts

We studied 79 patients with unilateral injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). The patients were randomly allocated to reconstruction with autologous patellar bone-tendon-bone (BTB) grafts (49 knees) or hamstring tendon (ST) grafts (30 knees). We measured anterior tibial translation (ATT) during isokinetic concentric contraction exercise 18–20 months after surgery using a computerized electrogoniometer. In both groups the highest ATT during exercise was observed at a knee flexion of about 20° and was 13.5±3.0 mm in the BTB group and 13.9±3.4 mm in the ST group. There was no difference in the ATT between the reconstructed and healthy knees. For a range of knee flexion between 30 and 50° the ATT in the ST group was significantly higher on the reconstructed side than on the healthy side. In the BTB group, the mean ATT in the reconstructed group was similar to that on the healthy side at a knee flexion angle between 0 and 90°