Editorial Commentary: Graft Choice for Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: Will There Ever Be a Correct Answer? Probably Not.

Abstract

Graft choice for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction has been a great controversy in the sports medicine literature for the last 25 years. It has been well studied in the orthopaedic literature, with numerous randomized control trials and large database studies. There remain advantages and disadvantages to each autograft choice, primarily bone-patellar tendon-bone, quadrupled hamstring, as well as allograft. More recently, quadriceps autograft has also been studied as a suitable alternative. Most studies show nearly equivalent functional outcomes for autograft anterior cruciate ligament using bone-patellar tendon-bone and hamstring autografts in athletes younger than the age of 25 years, whereas allograft may be preferred for older athletes.