The effect of the position of the femoral endobutton on knee function in the posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: a retrospective study.

Abstract

Background: To investigate the effect of the position of the femoral endobutton on knee function in the posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (PCLR).

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted to analyze 96 patients who underwent single-bundle reconstruction of posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) in our hospital from January 2020 to June 2023. The patients were divided into three groups according to the position of the endobutton on the lateral knee radiography. The first group is the position of endobutton in front of the lateral cortex of the femur, the second group is the position of endobutton in back of the lateral cortex of the femur, and the third group is the position of endobutton behind the femur. Knee Lysholm score, International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) Evaluation, Tegner Activity Scale, knee flexion angle and postoperative complication rate of the three groups were compared to evaluate whether there were statistical differences among the three groups.

Results: There were 39 patients in group 1, 46 patients in group 2, and 11 patients in group 3. The mean Lysholm Knee Scores of the group 1 was 91.77, 92.17 in group 2, and 90.36 in group 3. The mean IKDC Evaluation of group 1 was 90.48, 92.41 in group 2, and 93.00 in group 3. Tegner Activity Level was 5.69 in group 1, 5.72 in group 2, and 5.45 in group 3. The mean flexion degree was found as 125° in patients in group1, 127° in group 2, and 122° in group 3. There was no statistically significant difference between Lysholm Knee Scores (p = 0.434), IKDC (p = 0.068), Tegner Activity Level (p = 0.797), and knee flexion angle (p = 0.135). There was also no significant difference in the incidence of complications among the three groups (p > 0.05).

Conclusion: There were not statistically differences in clinical functional results when comparing patients' endobutton location on femur. This indicates that it does not need to adjust the orientation of the exit hole of the femur whether it is forward or backward during the PCLR.