Adolescents undergoing an ACL reconstruction frequently have small hamstring tendon autograft size. The augmentation of these small grafts with allograft does not reduce graft failure rates and may in fact lead to higher retear rates, with earlier graft failure.
Background:Multiple surgical approaches have been described for the management of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears in skeletally immature patients.Purpose:To provide a detailed description of a modified all-epiphyseal ACL reconstruction and report early outcomes and complications with this new technique.Study Design:Case series; Level of evidence, 4.Methods:A retrospective review of all skeletally immature patients undergoing ACL reconstruction via a modified all-epiphyseal technique prior to July 2015 was performed. Skeletally immature male patients with a bone age of 8 to 15 years and female patients with a bone age of 8 to 12 years were selectively indicated for this procedure. The surgical technique involved an all-epiphyseal femoral tunnel drilled parallel and distal to the physis as well as an all-epiphyseal tibial tunnel. Both tunnels were placed in the anatomic footprint of the ACL. Tibial fixation was achieved first with a suspensory cortical fixation device followed by fixation on the femur with an interference screw.Results:During the study period, 30 patients with a mean bone age of 11.8 years underwent ACL reconstruction with this physeal-sparing technique; 26 patients (87%) achieved a minimum follow-up of 2 years. At final follow-up, the mean Lysholm score, Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation score, patient satisfaction, return-to-sport rate, and Tegner activity score were 93, 89, 9.2, 94%, and 7.6, respectively. Four graft failures (15%) and 3 (12%) contralateral ACL tears were identified. One patient was noted to have a 12-mm leg-length discrepancy at final follow-up, which required no additional treatment. No other leg-length discrepancies or angular deformities were identified.Conclusion:The modified all-epiphyseal ACL reconstruction technique achieved good functional outcomes, a high rate of return to sport, low failure rates, and low physeal injury rates at a mean follow-up of 3.2 years. Skeletally immature patients with an ACL tear requiring reconstruction pose a unique challenge for sports medicine clinicians. While several previous approaches have been described for this patient population, the proposed benefits of this new technique are that it is anatomic, it is physeal sparing, it uses osseous tunnels, and it provides good initial graft fixation strength.
Objectives:Little attention has been given to the non-operative management of femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) in the literature despite a rapidly expanding body of research on the topic. The purpose of the current project was to perform a prospective study utilizing a non-operative protocol on a consecutive series of patients presenting to our clinic with FAI.Methods:Between 2013 and 2016, patients referred to our clinic for hip pain that had a positive impingement sign were prospectively recruited in a non-operative FAI study. The protocol consisted of an initial trial of rest, physical therapy, and activity modification with a focus on avoidance of high hip flexion (Activity Mod group). Patients who remained symptomatic were then treated with an image-guided intra-articular steroid injection (Injection group). Patients with residual symptoms were then offered arthroscopic treatment (Surgery group). Outcome scores were collected at 12 and 24 months. Statistical analysis was performed to identify risk factors for failure of non-operative treatment.Results:129 symptomatic hips in 100 patients were enrolled. After our exclusion criteria were applied, 110 hips in 84 patients remained with a mean follow-up of 25.5 months. Eighty-one hips (73.6%) were managed with PT, rest, and activity modification alone. Thirteen hips (11.8%) required a steroid injection, but did not progress to surgery. Sixteen hips (14.5%) required arthroscopic management. All three groups saw similar improvements in modified Harris hip score (mHHS)(p=0.706) and non-arthritic hips score (NAHS)(p=0.712). Initial, and most recent, mHHS and NAHS can be found in Table 1. Labral tears were distributed similarly among the three groups (n=41, p=0.09) and saw similar improvements in outcomes (p>0.5) as hips without labral tears. The surgical patients attempted non-operative treatment for a mean of 8.8 months prior to surgical intervention. Delays in surgery were not associated with worse outcomes. Cam lesion size, acetabular coverage, and the presence of a labral tear were not associated with non-operative treatment failure (p=0.579).Conclusion:A large majority of adolescent patients presenting with FAI can be managed nonoperatively with significant improvements in outcomes scores and continuation of sport at a mean follow up of two years. This is the first prospective study evaluating the outcomes of a standardized non-operative protocol for the management of FAI. Our results show that a commitment to non-operative care can work for a large percentage of patients. We will be following these patients further into the future to examine the durability of these results.Table 1.Mean±Standard deviation of intial and most recent modified Harris hip score and non-arthritic hip score.
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