Abstract
Objectives:
To systematically review the incidence of postoperative complications and adverse events following primary ACLR with quadriceps tendon autograft, while secondarily comparing the reported rates in an all-soft tissue quadriceps tendon (QT) graft relative to quadriceps tendon grafts with a patellar bone plug (QTPB).
Methods:
Two independent authors conducted a literature search using PubMed, Embase, and Scopus databases using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The search strategy included the following keywords combined with Boolean operators: ‘Anterior Cruciate Ligament’, ‘ACL’ ‘Reconstruction’, and ‘Quadriceps Tendon’. Inclusion criteria consisted of level I to IV human clinical studies in English or English-language translation reporting complications and adverse events after primary ACLR using quadriceps tendon autograft. The overall incidence of complications throughout the included studies, as well as the incidence of specific complications were extracted. A 2- proportion z-test was performed to evaluate for potential differences in the incidence of postoperative complications between ACLR with quadriceps tendon with and without a patellar bone plug.
Results:
A total of twenty studies, consisting of 2,381 patients (2,389 knees) with a mean age of 27 (mean range, 12 - 58) years, consisting of 68.3% males (n=1626/2381), were identified. The mean follow-up was 28.5 (mean range, 6 – 47) months. The total incidence of complications was 10.3% (n = 246/2389 patients), with persistent post-operative knee pain being the most common, as seen in 10.8% (n = 91/843) of knees. Patients who underwent ACL reconstruction with QT graft had increased incidence of persistent knee pain (23.3%) and reoperations (5.9%) when compared to QTPB grafts (8.6% and 3.2%, respectively) (p < .01). Nontraumatic graft ruptures were greater with the QTPB (2.1%) relative to QT (0.5%) (p = 0.01). There was no appreciable difference in total complications, total graft failures, traumatic rupture, ACLR revisions, cyclops lesions, or arthrofibrosis (all, p > 0.05). Patellar fractures occurred exclusively with the QTPB (2.2%).
Conclusions:
Complications following primary ACLR using quadriceps tendon autograft were recorded in 10.5% of knees, the most common of which is persistent knee pain. No difference was reported in the overall incidence of complications with the use of the QT versus QTPB grafts, however persistent knee pain was 2.7x greater with QT.
