Clinical outcome of arthroscopic suture versus screw fixation in tibial avulsion of the anterior cruciate ligament in skeletally mature patients.

Background: Tibial eminence fracture is an intra-articular fracture of bony attachment of ACL. The displaced fragment could hinder the mobility of the knee and may lead joint instabilty; therefore, requires fixation. Arthroscopic suture and screw fixation are the widely used surgical modalities for eminence fractures of the tibia. Past studies have not yet depicted the superiority of one method over the other. Through this cohort study, comparison of the clinical and functional outcomes of these two surgical methods was done.

Methods: A prospective, randomized, interventional study was conducted from December 2019 to January 2022 for comparing the clinical outcome of arthroscopic pull through suture fixation and arthroscopic antegrade cancellous screw fixation in skeletally mature individuals. Ninety patients (45 in each group) were randomly assigned and treated with the above two methods. A comprehensive clinical analysis was done after nine months of surgery for assessment of functional outcome, ligament laxity, range of motion, and complications if any.

Results: 65.55% of anterior tibial eminence fractures were caused by road traffic accidents followed by sports injuries (28.88%). The postoperative mean subjective IKDC score in the suture group was 91.36 and for the screw fixation group was 85.71 (p = 0.001). After nine months of surgery, the mean LKS was 91.96 in patients treated with suture fixation and 86.00 in patients treated with screw fixation (p = 0.001). Pivot shift grading was grade 3 in one patient of the suture group and in three patients of the screw group (p = 0.319). Seven patients who had screw fixation required re-surgery for removal of the implant; however, no such complication was seen in the suture fixation group.

Conclusion: Arthroscopic pull-through suture fixation of tibial avulsion of ACL in skeletally mature patients seems to be a superior intervention over arthroscopic screw fixation with the benefits of better clinical and functional outcomes and decreased chances of re-surgery.