Physeal-sparing technique for femoral tunnel drilling in pediatric anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using a posteromedial portal.

Abstract

Pediatric anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears present a technical dilemma for orthopaedic surgeons. Multiple surgical techniques have been described to protect the distal femoral and proximal tibial physes. We present an ACL reconstruction technique performed on a 12-year-old girl with open physes who sustained an ACL tear after a noncontact twisting injury while playing soccer. A hamstring autograft reconstruction was performed by use of a posteromedial portal to drill the femoral tunnel in an all-epiphyseal fashion at the anatomic footprint of the native ACL. This case provides a new surgical technique to achieve anatomic fixation for ACL reconstruction in a skeletally immature individual using a posteromedial portal to drill a physeal-sparing lateral femoral tunnel for anatomic ACL reconstruction. This advancement may make drilling the femoral tunnel less technically challenging compared with other proposed methods while maintaining the lateral wall of the distal femur.