Bone Grafts Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Bone Grafts, including details on spine fusion, surgery, procedure, risks.

Stiffness characteristics of hamstring tendon graft fixation methods at the femoral site.

Benfield D, Otto DD, Bagnall KM, Raso VJ, Moussa W, Amirfazli A

Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2G8, Canada.

In ACL reconstruction, stiffness and strength of a tendon graft complex are important features for knee stability and rehabilitation. The fixation between tendon and bone is known to be one of the weakest components of the graft complex. We examined the tensile load-displacement characteristics of looped semitendinosus tendons in a porcine femoral tunnel. Two groups of six cadaveric semitendinosus tendons and porcine femurs were tested, secured with either an aperture or non-aperture fixation method. Constructs were tested at 1 mm/s until failure in a materials testing machine, which allowed force and displacement data to be recorded. The non-aperture fixation group was significantly less stiff for the first 4 mm of displacement and had significantly higher ultimate failure loads. Provided that adequate ultimate strength can be achieved, stiffness properties of a tendon graft will be improved by using aperture fixation in femoral-site ACL reconstruction.

Published 3 February 2005 in Int Orthop, 29(1): 35-8.
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