Arthroscopic reduction and fixation of avulsion fracture of the tibial attachment of the anterior cruciate ligament.

Abstract

In treating avulsion fracture of the tibial attachment of the anterior cruciate ligament, surgical reduction and fixation of fractured bone is necessary for patients who have a wide displacement of bone fragment (i.e., types III and IV in the Meyers classification). Our arthroscopic technique allows the creation of bone tunnels on the medial and lateral sides of the bone fragment from the medial side of the tibial tubercle without using special equipment. At surgery, fixation wire is prepared into a loop, pulled into the joint space, and the loop is opened within the joint. This makes intra-articular manipulation easy, and the bone can be reduced more accurately. This arthroscopic technique decreases surgical invasion of the joint, allows good postoperative range of motion without problems, and is useful in preventing extension limitation due to dislocation of the anterior portion of the fragment.