Abstract
Objectives:
Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) tears are a common sporting injury and optimal graft choice is of concern for both patients and surgeons. Few comparative studies have evaluated return to sport and reinjury rates across graft types.
The purpose of the present study was to evaluate return to sport rates and reinjuries among hamstring tendon (HT), quadriceps tendon (QT), and patellar tendon (BPTB) ACL reconstructions.
Methods:
Recreational and competitive athletes ages 13-24 from 2010-2022 that underwent primary or revision ACL reconstruction were included. There were 837 total athletes comprised of 341 HT, 358 BPTB, and 138 QT autografts, of which 729 were primary and 108 were revision surgeries. Return to sport (RTS) rates, RTS testing results, clearance time, and reinjury rates were collected. RTS testing data included isokinetic testing of quadricep and hamstring strength and functional movement screening.
A Kruskal-Wallis test was used to detect differences among continuous variables. A GLIMMIX procedure was completed for multivariate analysis to detect differences between groups after adjusting for age and activity level. Chi-square statistics and Fisher’s exact test were used for categorical variables. Odds ratio, adjusted odds ratio, and 95% confidence intervals were provided by logistic regression. All statistical analyses were performed using SAS 9.4 (Cary, NC). Statistical significance was measured at p<0.05.
Results:
The median ages were 18 for HT and BPTB and 17 for QT (p= 0.0001). Females comprised 50.73% of HT grafts, 42.86% of BPTB grafts, and 41.30% of QT grafts. Return to previous level of play was observed in 118/130 (90.77%) HT, 124/136 (91.18%) BPTB, and 39/52 (75.00%) of QT grafts (p=0.0045); BPTB remained statistically more likely to return to previous level of play than QT after adjusting for age and activity level. RTS testing was completed in 28/341 (8.21%) HT, 142/358 (39.66%) BPTB, and 80/138 (57.97%) QT grafts (p<0.001); after adjusting for age and activity level, the results remained significant. Median isokinetic quadriceps testing at 300 degrees per second was 92% for 26 HT athletes, 83% for 134 BPTB athletes, and 87% for 77 QT athletes (p= 0.0006); results remained significant following age and activity level adjustment. Median isokinetic hamstring testing at 60 degrees per second was 89% for 24 HT athletes, 101% for 135 BPTB athletes, and 100% for 79 QT athletes (p=0.0007); results remained significant after adjustment for age and activity level. The median single- leg hop ratio was 98% for 5 HT athletes, 85% for 12 BPTB athletes, and 96% for 14 QT athletes (p=0.044); after adjusting for age and activity level, results remained significant. Time to be cleared for RTS was 25.89 weeks for 179 HT athletes, 34.75 weeks for 186 BPTB athletes, and 35.74 weeks for 75 QT athletes (p <0.0001) with the results remaining statistically significant following adjustment for age and activity level. ACL retear rates were 12.02% for HT, 3.07% for BPTB, and 5.07% for QT (p<0.0001) with hamstring grafts remaining significantly more likely to suffer an ACL retear than BPTB grafts after adjusting for age and activity level.
Conclusions:
After adjusting for age and activity level, BPTB ACL autografts demonstrated a lower reinjury risk when compared to HT autografts. When comparing QT and BPTB, return to sport testing 6-9 months post-op was superior in the QT group; however, BPTB patients were more likely to return to sport. This data can help influence surgeon and patient shared decision-making models in athletes with ACL injuries.