Complications of anterior cruciate ligament reconstructions

Introduction. The aim of study was to analyze the results and complications of anterior cruciate ligament reconstructions, treatment and prevention possibilities. Material and Methods. We performed 210 operations: 175 with patellar tendon graft and 35 with hamstring tendons. Men were 7 times more present in our survey. The average age being 27.1 years. The average follow up was 3.2 years. The participants answered a modified Knee Ostedoarthritis Outcome Scale questionnaire set. We used clinical examination tests (Range of motion, Lachman and pivot shift) and postoperative X-rays. Results. The complication?s rate was 9% (19 patients). In patellar tendon group we registered one patellar fracture and pulmonary tromboembolism and two cases of cyclops lesions. Septic arthritis was more common among professional athletes and in hamstring tendons group. Reoperations had to be performed: in 5 cases of infections (continous irrigation and drainage), two arthrofibrosis and one osteosynthesis of patella. Graft had to be removed in 2.5% of cases and revisions happened mostly because of impropriate position of bone tunnels and new trauma. One algodystrophic syndrome happened in hamstring tendons group. Complications were successfully treated in 12 cases but 5 patients had knee contractures, so average Knee Ostedoarthritis Outcome Scale score was 88.2 points in comparison to 93.8 points in patients without complications. Seventy-three percent of patients returned to nonrestricted (sport) activities. Complications can compromise the final results of anterios cruciate ligament reconstructions. We registered similar complication rates between different grafts. Some of complications had almost every eleventh patient that resulted with reoperation at every eighteenth of them. Conclusion. The most of complications can be prevented and treated successfuly althought many questions are still left opened.