Clinical experience with woven and parallel hamstring-tendon anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the weave technique for hamstring graft preparation on the diameter of the prepared graft, functional outcome, and need for harvesting of semitendinosus and gracilis (ST + G) or semitendinosus alone (ST). Materials and Methods This retrospective study evaluated 340 patients who underwent arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction from January 2013 to December 2015. Our protocol for graft preparation is that the graft length must be a minimum of 8 cm and the diameter must be between 7 and 10 mm. The parallel-graft preparation technique was used in 189 patient and the weave technique was used in 151 patients. Outcome was measured by using stress radiographs and International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) 2000 score. Results In the parallel-graft preparation group, ST + G was used in 99 patients and ST was used in 90 patients. In the weave-graft preparation group, ST + G was used in 38 patients and ST alone was sufficient in 113 patients. The need for G harvest was less in the weave-technique group (p < 0.0001). There was no statistically significant difference at 2 years of follow-up in stress laxiometry, IKDC 2000 scores and rerupture rates between the two groups. Conclusion The weave technique helps to reduce the need for G harvest without compromising functional outcome. Level of evidence IV.