AN INVITRO COMPARISON OF 2 REPLACEMENT TECHNIQUES UTILIZING FASCIA LATA AFTER CRANIAL CRUCIATE LIGAMENT TRANSECTION IN THE DOG

The immediate postoperative biomechanical properties of an ''under-and-over'' cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) replacement technique consisting of fascia lata and the lateral one-third of the patellar ligament, were compared with that of a modified intra- and extracapsular ''under-and-over-the-top'' (UOTT) method. The right CCL in twelve adult dogs was dissected out and replaced with an autograft. The contralateral, intact CCL served as the control. In group A, the graft was secured to the lateral femoral condyle with a spiked washer and screw. In group B the intracapsular graft was secured to the lateral femoro-fabellar ligament, and the remainder to the patellar tendon. Both CCL replacement techniques exhibited a 2.0 +/- 0.5 mm anterior drawer immediately after the operation. After skeletonization of the stifles, the length and cross-sectional area of the intact CCL and CCL substitutes were determined. Each bone-ligament unit was tested in linear tension to failure at a fixed distraction rate of 15 mm/s with the stifle in 120-degrees flexion. Data was processed to obtain the corresponding material parameters (modulus, stress and strain in the linear loading region, and energy absorption to maximum load).