ACL Reconstruction

The aim of ACL reconstruction surgery is to stabilize your knee joint. A torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament can’t heal by itself and causes knee joint instability and a feeling of giving way or insecurity.

Longstanding knee joint instability causes further damage to the knee cartilage and may cause a torn meniscus.

In the field of shoulder and knee reconstruction, successful outcomes from an operation are 50% surgery and 50% rehabilitation. You could say the surgery is the easy bit, the rehabilitation is all hard slog. Dr Colvin’s CO.RE exercise programs are just that, a core plan for your successful recovery.

There are several graft options to choose from for this surgery. Factors in graft choice include your age, sex, occupation, sport and previous injuries or surgery.

Hamstring tendons are the most popular choice for cruciate reconstruction. They form a strong graft, and because the graft is made up of your own tissue, it integrates quickly and permanently. Using a hamstring graft doesn't weaken the hamstring muscles.

There are a number of alternative grafts:

• Patellar tendon graft: This method involves taking a strip of the middle third of the patellar tendon including a small piece of bone from the knee cap where the tendon starts and from the tibia where the tendon attaches.
• LARS graft: This is a synthetic ligament which is threaded through the stumps of the torn cruciate ligament. Cells from your cruciate ligament stump grow into the woven ligament which acts as a scaffold for a new ligament to form.
• Hybrid reconstruction or Augmented LARS reconstruction: In this method, the LARS graft is combined with a conventional hamstring graft in an attempt to achieve the best of both worlds. The LARS ligament provides immediate stability for quicker rehabilitation, and the hamstring tissue offers the basis for a long-term living ligament.

If you contact orthopaedic surgeon Dr Colvin at the Western Orthopaedic Clinic in Subiaco Perth, he will be able to give you clear guidelines about what to expect with ACL reconstruction surgery and what ACL graft choice is best for your knee.

If you suffer from an injury to the anterior cruciate ligament in your knee, you may have questions about the ACL tear and the surgery you need. I have created a page listing some of the most frequently asked questions about ACL reconstruction.