Editorial Commentary: Single-Bundle Versus Double-Bundle Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction … Are We Barking up the Wrong Tree?

Abstract

As techniques in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction continue to evolve, studies comparing single bundle to double bundle continue to mount in numbers. Although there have been great strides in identifying anatomic tunnel placement, how many tunnels (bundles) are created, and how those tunnels are placed, we still seem to be stuck with grossly similar results with respect to both patient-related and objective outcome measures. It seems to me that we can do a very good job reproducing what we do to a cadaver in a lab. Unfortunately, that cadaver does not get up and walk after our job is done as surgeons. Nearly 20% of our athletes do not return to their prior level of sport, and 30% of our patients develop radiographic signs of osteoarthritis. There must be something we are neglecting.