Comparative evaluation of the results of three techniques in the reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament, with a minimum follow-up of two years☆

OBJECTIVE To compare the clinical results of the reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament by transtibial, transportal, and outside-in techniques. METHODS This was a retrospective study on 90 patients (ACL reconstruction with autologous flexor tendons) operated between August 2009 and June 2012, by the medial transportal (30), transtibial (30), and "outside-in" (30) techniques. The following parameters were assessed: objective and subjective IKDC, Lysholm, KT1000, Lachman test, Pivot-Shift and anterior drawer test. RESULTS On physical examination, the Lachman test and Pivot-Shift indicated a slight superiority of the outside-in technique, but without statistical significance (p = 0.132 and p = 0.186 respectively). The anterior drawer, KT1000, subjective IKDC, Lysholm, and objective IKDC tests showed similar results in the groups studied. A higher number of complications were observed in the medial transportal technique (p = 0.033). CONCLUSION There were no statistically significant differences in the clinical results of patients undergoing reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament by transtibial, medial transportal, and outside-in techniques.