Forty-one of fifty patients (fifty knees) who had had a repair of an
acute tear of the medial ligaments, a procedure in which repair of the
posterior oblique ligament and the semimembranosus complex was emphasized,
were re-evaluated after an average duration of follow-up of twenty-two
years (range, eighteen to thirty years). The ages of the patients at the
time of the injury had ranged from fifteen to twenty-one years. In
twenty-four of the forty-one knees, the anterior cruciate ligament had been
torn. In seventeen of these knees, the torn ligament had been debrided; in
six others, which had had avulsion of a bone fragment or a terminal tear,
the ligament had been repaired with absorbable sutures; and in the
remaining knee, the repaired anterior cruciate ligament had been augmented.
Four patients had had a pes anserinus transfer to supplement the medial
repair. The medial meniscus had been intact or repaired in twenty-five of
the forty-one knees and had been removed from the remaining sixteen. The
lateral meniscus had been retained in thirty-nine knees and removed from
two. Postoperatively, all knees had been immobilized for six weeks in 60
degrees of flexion by means of a plaster cast. This had not caused lasting
loss of motion, persistent muscle atrophy, or clinically demonstrable
deterioration of the articular cartilage. In the twenty-four knees that had
had a tear of the anterior cruciate ligament, the rates of instability,
meniscal injury, and deterioration of the joint had not increased since the
time of treatment, compared with those in the knees with an intact
ligament, even though repair and augmentation of this ligament had not been
performed (except in one patient, in whom it was unsuccessful).
Thirty-eight patients had good stability and a normal range of motion, as
well as little or no muscle atrophy. Radiographic changes were slight or
absent in all but four knees. Most patients had maintained a high level of
physical fitness and recreational athletic activity. There were three
failures of treatment (7 per cent). This previously described treatment of
acute tears of the medial ligaments, with or without an associated tear of
the anterior cruciate ligament, provides good long-term results and is
still recommended.