ORLANDO, FL—Using soft tissue allografts for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstructions may increase the risks for a revision reconstruction postoperatively, according to research presented at the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine’s Specialty Day.
Researchers analyzed data from the Kaiser Permanente ACLR Registry. Of the cases analyzed, 4,557 involved bone-patellar tendon-bone (BPTB) autografts, 3,751 soft tissue allograft, and 5,707 hamstring allograft.
After a 3-year follow-up, the overall revision rates were 2.5% for BPTB autographs, 3.5% for hamstring autografts, and 3.7% for soft tissue allografts. Non-processed soft tissue allografts were not found to have a statistically significantly different risk of revision compared to BPTB autografts. However, compared to BPTB autografts, allografts processed with more than 1.8Mrads irradiation had a more than 2 times higher risk of revision, and grafts processed with more than 1.8Mrads or high pressure chemical processing had a more than 4 to 6 times higher risk of revision. This was true even after adjustments for age, gender, and race.