Graft ligamentization of anterior cruciate ligament

The article presents an analysis of surgical treatment results of 71 patients, operated on for rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the department of traumatology and orthopedics FSСС FMBA of Russia in 2013-2016. All patients underwent primary arthroscopic ACL reconstruction with autograft from tendons gracilis and semitendinosus. We assessed the condition of the operated knee joint on MRI after 3 - 6 - 12 - 24 months after surgery. Based on the criteria of MR studies, we concluded that the non-uniform diffuse change of MR signal from the graft on T2, PD FS can be traced in the first 2 years after surgery, reflecting process of ligamentization. In the first three months we also observed an increase in the diameter of the graft, which further regressed. Process of ligamentization ends within two years after the operation, whereby the signal from the MR-graft should be similar to the native ACL.