Preoperative quadriceps strength as a predictor of return to sports after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction in competitive athletes.

Objectives: To determine whether preoperative quadriceps strength predicts the likelihood of return to sports (RTS) following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) in competitive athletes.

Design: Case-control study.

Setting: Single-center.

Importance of functional performance and psychological readiness for return to preinjury level of sports 1 year after ACL reconstruction in competitive athletes.

Purpose: This study aimed to identify independent predictive factors for return to sports (RTS) after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction in competitive-level athletes and to determine optimal cut-off values for these factors at 6 months after surgery.

Methods: A total of 124 competitive athletes (50 males and 74 females; mean age, 17.0 years; preinjury Tegner activity scale > 7) who underwent primary ACL reconstruction were enrolled.

Repair of Achilles tendon rupture using autologous semitendinosus graft in a kidney transplant recipient.

Insertional Achilles tendon injuries can be difficult to treat when minimal tendon tissue remains for anastomosis. Moreover, in the chronic case with tendon shortening, operative repair can be more difficult than acute rupture. It is particularly desirable to reinforce the tendons, in addition to performing primary repair, in patients with renal or systemic diseases because of the accelerated collagen degeneration.

Anatomic double-bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using hamstring tendons with minimally required initial tension.

Purpose: Our purpose was to clarify the clinical outcomes at 2 years after anatomic double-bundle anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction with 20 N of the initial tension, which was the minimally required initial tension to perform the reconstruction successfully according to our previous report about the pre-tension necessary to restore the laxity found in the opposite knee (7.3 N; range, 2.2 to 14 N).

Fixation of detached osteochondritis dissecans lesions with bioabsorbable pins: clinical and histologic evaluation.

Purpose: The purpose was to evaluate the effect of fixation of detached free fragments of osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) (International Cartilage Repair Society OCD IV) on not only the clinical outcome, including functional and radiographic assessment, but also postoperative second-look arthroscopic and histologic evaluation.

Methods: Nine International Cartilage Repair Society OCD IV fragments were fixed with bioabsorbable pins made of poly-L-lactic acid after curettage of the bed and bone grafting. In 4 cases with severe cartilage damage in the fragments, after resection of the damaged part, trimmed fragments were fixed and osteochondral autologous transplantation was performed to cover the remaining defects.

Histological evaluation of juvenile osteochondritis dissecans of the knee: a case series.

Osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) is an acquired, potentially reversible idiopathic disease of subchondral bone resulting in delamination and sequestration. Although juvenile-type OCD lesions typically appear stable on superficial examination, conservative treatment results in cure in approximate 50% of patients. We hypothesized that juvenile-type OCD lesions exhibit an underlying instability despite stability at the articular surface and this underlying instability might underlie the lack of effectiveness of conservative treatment.

The location-specific healing response of damaged articular cartilage after ACL reconstruction: short-term follow-up.

Although many different interventions have been proposed for treating cartilage lesions at the time of ACL reconstruction, the normal healing response of these injuries has not been well documented. To address this point, we compared the arthroscopic status of chondral lesions at the time of ACL reconstruction with that obtained at second-look arthroscopy. We hypothesized that there might be a location-specific difference in the healing response of damaged articular cartilage.

A novel technique of arthroscopic excision of a symptomatic os trigonum.

We describe a new arthroscopic excision technique for a symptomatic os trigonum. With the patient lying in a prone position, a posterolateral portal just lateral to the Achilles tendon, at the 5-mm level proximal to the tip of the fibula, is used for the arthroscope and an accessory posterolateral portal just posterior to the peroneal tendon at the same level is used for instruments. The synovial tissues are then debrided with a power shaver through the accessory posterolateral portal for better visualization.

Menisci of the rabbit knee require mechanical loading to maintain homeostasis: cyclic hydrostatic compression in vitro prevents derepression of catabolic genes.

Background: The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of removing menisci from their in vivo loading environment on gene expression patterns and to determine whether in vitro loading can maintain the tissues in their in vivo phenotype.

Methods: Lateral and medial rabbit meniscal explants from one leg were cultured in vitro and subjected to intermittent cyclic hydrostatic pressure (CHP) of 1 MPa at 0.5 Hz for 1 min and a rest period of 14 min (4 h of culture).