Autologous conditioned plasma in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with hamstrings – short term clinical results

Evaluating the early clinical results of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction using hamstrings autograft, with interference screw on the tibial side (biocomposite interference screw, ConMed-Linvatec) and continuous closed loop fixation on the femoral side (XO-Button, ConMed-Linvatec), with and without intra-articular injection of autologous conditioned plasma (ACP). Our study included 21 patients with chronic anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ruptures for whom we performed ACL reconstruction with a hamstrings autograft. The mean age was 34 years (range, 25 to 42), 16 patients were men and 5 were women. In 10 cases we performed an intraarticular infiltration of ACP at the end of the surgical intervention. Final evaluation was performed at the end of the 6th postoperative month using the Lysholm scoring system, Tegner activity scale and objective assessment with the RolimeterTM 50A. The Lysholm score was excellent in all cases at 6 months postoperatively, with a mean Lysholm score of 90 for patients without ACP and 91.09 for patients that received ACP; the mean Tegner activity score was also similar pre- and postoperatively for the two groups (from 3.5 and 3.63 for the group without ACP and the group with ACP to 5.6 and 5.72 respectively). Joint laxity measurement was similar for both groups. We found no graft ruptures. We found similar results after ACL reconstruction with and without intra-articular injection of PRP, but further studies are necessary to determine the exact role of these substances in speeding up the recovery process in these cases.