Allograft Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction in the Young, Active Patient: Tegner Activity Level and Failure Rate

Purpose: The purpose was to analyze outcomes of nonirradiated, fresh-frozen bone-patellar tendonbone (BPTB) allograft anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction in patients aged under 40 years with regard to activity level (Tegner score). Methods: Between 1993 and 2005, 111 patients, aged under 40 years, underwent primary, nonirradiated, fresh-frozen BPTB allograft ACL reconstruction and were retrospectively reviewed. Follow-up was limited to a minimum of 24 months. Patients with concomitant ligament injuries and previous surgeries were excluded. Seventy-eight patients met the inclusion criterion and were available for follow-up. Four hundred eleven patients had BPTB autograft ACL reconstructions and comprised the control group. Failure of the graft was defined as repeat ACL reconstruction because of reinjury or graft failure, 2+ Lachman (no endpoint), any pivot shift, and/or 5-mm side-to-side KT-1000 difference (MEDmetric, San Diego, CA) or greater. Initial examinations, surgical findings, and follow-up examinations were prospectively entered into a computerized relational database. The results were assessed by both objective and subjective measures. Results: High-activity allograft patients had a 2.6- to 4.2-fold increase in the probability of graft failure compared with low-activity BPTB allograft patients and low-and high-activity BPTB autograft patients. Patients undergoing BPTB autograft reconstruction reported significantly fewer problems on a visual analog scale and scored significantly higher on the postoperative Tegner activity scale than patients undergoing allograft reconstruction. Conclusions: The active allograft group is 2.6 to 4.2 times more likely to fail compared with low-activity allografts and low and high-activity autografts. We conclude that fresh-frozen BPTB allografts should not be used in young patients who have a high Tegner activity score because of their higher risk of failure. Level of Evidence: Level III, retrospective comparative study.