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Background: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reinjury risk is high in young athletes, with graft failure rates as high as 23%. The optimal autograft choice to minimize reinjury risk in this population is unclear. Purpose: To compare graft failure rates between bone–patellar tendon–bone (BPTB), hamstring tendon (HT), and quadriceps tendon (QT) autografts in patients aged ≤18 years with a minimum follow-up (FU) of 24 months. Study Design: Systematic review; Level of evidence, 4. Methods: A systematic review of the literature between database inception and March 2022 encompassed PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane CENTRAL, Embase, and Web of Science Core Collection databases. Studies on autograft ACL reconstruction (ACLR) using HT, QT, or BPTB autograft in patients ≤18 years old with a minimum FU of 2 years were included. Graft failure rates were pooled and estimated using random-effects models via the inverse variance method and logit transformations. Meta-analyses were used to estimate failure rates and pairwise comparisons were conducted by autograft type when appropriate. Results: A total of 24 studies comprising 2299 patients (HT: n = 1237, 44.8% female, 59.1-month mean FU; BPTB: n = 913, 67.3% female, 79.9-month mean FU; QT: n = 149, 36.4% female, 35.3-month mean FU) were included. HT exhibited the highest failure rate at 11.8% (95% CI, 9.0%-15.4%); failure rates for BPTB and QT were 7.9% (95% CI, 6.2%-10.0%) and 2.7% (95% CI, 1.0%-7.5%), respectively. HT had a significantly higher failure rate than both BPTB (Q = 5.01; P =.025) and QT (Q = 7.70; P =.006); BPTB had a significantly higher failure rate than QT (Q = 4.01; P =.045). Male patients were less likely than their female counterparts to experience graft failure after HT ACLR (odds ratio, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.25-0.95). Conclusion: While the HT remains a common choice for ACLR, the current aggregate data indicate that BPTB and QT demonstrated significantly lower failure rates than HT ACLR in adolescent athletes ≤18 years old. The QT demonstrated the lowest failure rate in adolescents but also the lowest proportion of patients represented due to a paucity of published QT data, indicating a need for future studies with larger sample sizes that include QT autografts, reduced risk of bias, and consistent reporting on skeletal maturity and surgical technique to better determine the ideal autograft for active athletic populations ≤18 years old. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Extensor mechanism injuries, which comprise patella fractures, patella tendon tears and quadriceps tendon tears, are severely debilitating injuries and a common cause of traumatic knee pathology that requires surgical intervention. Risk factors for short‐term surgical complications and venous thromboembolism (VTE) in this population have not been well characterised. The aim of this study was to identify perioperative risk factors associated with these short‐term complications. Methods: The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database was used to identify patients who underwent an isolated, primary extensor mechanism repair from 2015 to 2020. Patients were stratified by injury type. Demographic data were collected and compared. A multivariate logistic regression was used to control for demographic and comorbid factors while assessing risk factors for developing short‐term complications. Results: A total of 8355 patients were identified for inclusion in this study. Overall, 3% of patients sustained short‐term surgical complications and 1% were diagnosed with VTE within 30 days of surgery. Patella fracture fixation had a nearly twofold higher risk for surgical complications compared to quadriceps tendon repair (p = 0.004). Patella tendon repair had a twofold higher risk for VTE (p = 0.045), specifically deep vein thrombosis (p = 0.020), compared to patella fracture fixation. Increasing age, smoking and American Society of Anesthesiologists Classifications 3 and 4 were also found to be risk factors for surgical complications (p = 0.012, p = 0.004, p = 0.011 and p = 0.032, respectively). Conclusion: This study used a nationally representative, widely validated, peer‐reviewed database to provide valuable insights into risk factors for short‐term postoperative complications associated with extensor mechanism repair procedures, revealing notable differences in risk profiles among distinct surgical procedures. The results of this study will inform surgeons and patients in enhancing risk assessment, guiding procedure‐specific decision‐making, optimising preoperative care, improving postoperative monitoring and contributing to future research of extensor mechanism injuries. Level of Evidence: Level III. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quadriceps tendon (QT) has become increasingly used by orthopaedic surgeons as an alternative autograft choice in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. As its use increases, athletic trainers and other rehabilitation clinicians will treat a greater number of patients with this autograft type. The recently developed, minimally invasive technique for harvest of the all-soft tissue autograft has many benefits, including versatility, decreased donor-site morbidity, and enhanced cosmesis. Early clinical trials revealed that the QT autograft resulted in decreased anterior knee pain and similar strength and functional outcomes to those of more common autograft types. From a rehabilitation perspective, many characteristics should be considered, such as the importance of early knee extension and quadriceps activation. Therefore, the purpose of this technical note is to expose athletic trainers to the QT autograft so that they may provide the best care for patients after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Persistent neuromuscular deficits in the surgical limb after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) have been repeatedly described in the literature, yet little is known regarding their association with physical performance and patient-reported function. Objective: To describe (1) interlimb differences in neuromuscular and functional outcomes and (2) the associations of neuromuscular outcomes with measures of physical and knee-related patient-reported function. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: Thirty individuals after primary, unilateral ACLR (19 males; age = 21.5 years [range, 14-41 years]; 8 months [range = 6-23 months] postsurgery). Main Outcome Measure(s): Knee-extensor isometric and isokinetic peak torque was measured with an isokinetic dynamometer. Cross-sectional area (CSA) was measured bilaterally for each of the quadriceps muscles via magnetic resonance imaging. We measured quadriceps central activation bilaterally via the superimposed-burst technique. Physical performance (single-legged hop tests, step length via spatio-temporal gait analysis) and patient-reported outcomes (International Knee Documentation Committee questionnaire and Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score Sport and Recreation subscale) were also recorded. We conducted Wilcoxon signed rank tests to identify interlimb differences. Spearman q correlation analyses revealed associations between limb symmetry and neuromuscular and functional outcomes, as well as with patient-reported function. Results: Deficits in the surgical limb as compared with the nonsurgical limb were present for all outcomes (P values, .05). Greater single-legged hop-test symmetry (83%) was significantly correlated with greater symmetry in knee-extensor isometric (63%; rs = 0.567, P = .002) and isokinetic (68%; rs = 0.540, P = .003) strength, as well as greater cross-sectional area of the vastus medialis (78%; rs = 0.519, P = .006) and vastus lateralis (82%; rs = 0.752, P, .001). A higher International Knee Documentation Committee questionnaire score (82.2) was significantly correlated with greater symmetry in knee-extensor isokinetic strength (rs = 0.379, P = .039). Conclusions: Although deficits were observed in the surgical limb for all neuromuscular measures, greater symmetry in the size and strength of the quadriceps, rather than activation, was more strongly associated with physical performance after ACLR. Greater symmetry in strength was also more strongly associated with patient-reported function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]