Bone tunnel enlargement on anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

OBJECTIVE To assess the presence of tibial bone tunnel enlargement after surgical reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament using quadruple graft of the flexor tendons and correlate the functional results in their presence. METHODS The studied lasted six months and included 25 patients, with ages ranging from 18 to 43 years old. Assessment was based on radiographs taken immediately postoperatively and at the third and sixth month of follow up in the anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Reconstruction of ligaments was performed with tendon grafts of the semitendinosus and gracilis muscle fixated in the femur with transverse metal screw and in the tibia with interference screws. Patients were evaluated objectively by tests ligament, graded from zero to four crosses and subjectively by the Lysholm method preoperative and after sixth month follow up. RESULTS Significant increase in the tunnels diameters were observed, 20.56% for radiographs in the anteroposterior view, 26.48% in profile view and 23.22% in computed tomography. Descriptive statistics showed significant improvement in subjective and objective clinical parameters. CONCLUSIONS The bone tunnel enlargement is a phenomenon found in the first months after surgical reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament and it has no implications on clinical outcomes in the short term. Level of Evidence II, Prospective Study.