Combined anterolateral ligament and anatomic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction of the knee

Although anatomic anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction is established for the surgical treatment of anterolateral knee instability, there remains a significant cohort of patients who continue to experience post-operative instability. Recent advances in our understanding of the anatomic, biomechanical and radiological characteristics of the native anterolateral ligament (ALL) of the knee have led to a resurgent interest in reconstruction of this structure as part of the management of knee instability. This technical note describes our readily reproducible combined minimally invasive technique to reconstruct both the ACL and ALL anatomically using autologous semitendinosus and gracilis grafts. This method of ALL reconstruction can be easily integrated with all-inside ACL reconstruction, requiring minimal additional operative time, equipment and expertise. Level of evidence V.