ORLANDO, FL—Patients who undergo anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction with a single-bundle or a double-bundle technique demonstrate similar performance during recovery, according to research presented at the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine’s Specialty Day.
Researchers studied 105 patients with ACL ranging in age from 18 to 52. A total of 87 patients were available for the 5-year follow-up and were included in the study. All patients underwent post-operative rehabilitation under the same guidelines and supervision of physical therapists. Follow-up exams included multiple subjective and objective evaluation tests, including range of motion, one-leg-hop test, square-hop test, and knee injury osteoarthritis outcome score.
Patients treated with single-bundle or double-bundle ACL reconstruction showed no significant difference in major performance tests. In addition, 89% of the single-bundle and 84% of the double-bundle groups had a negative pivot-shift test, which suggests both groups had similar knee stability and health. The study also noted that the presence of osteoarthritis in patients was similar during follow-up evaluations, regardless of the technique used during ACL surgery.