Our experience with the Ellison procedure for the control of anterior
subluxation of the lateral tibial plateau includes fifty-two knees in which
we used this procedure either alone or in combination with other
reconstructive procedures. The results directly attributable to the Ellison
procedure itself after follow-ups of six months or more could be evaluated
in fifteen patients who had only the Ellison procedure for anterolateral
instability and in thirteen who had both this procedure and a pes anserinus
transfer for combined anterolateral and anteromedial instability. Of the
twenty-eight patients so evaluated, only sixteen (57 per cent) had good or
excellent results. The pivot-shift phenomenon, present in all twenty-eight
knees preoperatively, had been eliminated in only four at follow-up. A
positive anterior drawer sign was present in all patients both before
operation and at follow-up. The subjective and functional improvement did
not correlate well with the clinical and roentgenographic findings. From
this study it is our impression that the results of this operation are
disappointing and that it should be used only as an adjunctive procedure in
lateral reconstruction in young patients.