Abstract
Background of study
Medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) reconstructions are often performed using gracilis autografts, this can be associated with donor site morbidity and complications. The use of synthetic material can circumvent a harvest operation and have previously been demonstrated to be effective in other types of reconstructive procedures and may be effective in MPFL reconstruction. We report our experience and clinical results with the use of FiberTape (FT) in MPFL reconstruction and compare it to the same surgical technique using standard autografts.
Materials and Methods
Data were collected prospectively in 50 MPFL reconstructions. The first 27 underwent reconstruction using autograft; the following 23 patients were treated with FT. All patients were clinically and radiologically assessed and underwent pre- and post-operative scoring using the Kujala score, Bartlett score, Modified Tegner activity rating scale, SF 12 score and Lysholm score. Statistical significance was tested between groups using ANOVA with repeated measures.
Results
There was no significant differences in the pre-operative scores between the FT and GT groups (p>0.05). Both groups showed significant improvement across all scoring modalities between pre- and post-operative periods 12, 24 and 48 months of follow-up (p<0.05). There were no significant differences in knee function scores between the GT and FT groups.
Conclusion
The use of FT in MPFL reconstruction is safe and effective, it significantly improved patient's quality of life and related postoperative outcome measures. There were no significant differences in all knee scores compare to GT autografts. Tendon harvesting is unnecessary and FT is a feasible option for MPFL reconstruction.
