Application of the long fibular tendon in anterior cruciate ligament plastic surgery: biomechanical properties of the graft, correlation relationships

Surgery of the anterior cruciate ligament with its injuries is currently one of the most frequent in sports traumatology. There are many methods for its implementation, but one of the most frequent questions is the choice of a transplant to replace it. The graft must withstand loads comparable to an intact ligament. It is necessary to choose the most suitable human tissue for this purpose. This article discusses the biomechanical characteristics of the long tibial tendon as a graft for the anterior cruciate ligament. Our results allowed us to evaluate the mechanical properties of the graft obtained from the tendon of the long fibular muscle, to compare the data obtained with the available literature data describing the mechanical properties of the grafts used, and to show that the graft chosen for evaluation in this study is not inferior in its properties to those already used. The presence of a correlation between the graft diameter and the gender of patients suggests that further detailed statistical analysis will determine the possibility of accurate prediction of the graft diameter for high-quality preoperative planning.