Preexisting patellar tendinopathy did not affect ACL reconstruction results with autograft
Key takeaways:
- Results showed no significant differences in retear rates between patients with vs. those without tendinopathy.
- There were no significant differences in rates of subsequent surgeries.
SAN DIEGO — Mild to moderate preoperative patellar tendinopathy may not significantly affect postoperative outcomes of ACL reconstructions with a bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft, according to results presented here.
“If a patient were to get a [bone-patellar tendon-bone] BTB autograft and they had mild to moderate patellar tendinopathy on their preoperative MRI without any symptoms, then the BTB autograft would be an OK choice to use for them, even with the tendinopathy,” Michelle Xiao, BS, a medical student at the Stanford University School of Medicine, told Healio about results presented at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting.
Xiao and colleagues retrospectively analyzed data from patients (n = 909) who underwent either primary or revision ACL reconstruction with a BTB autograft from 2012 to 2021. Patients were categorized into groups depending on whether they had preoperative patellar tendinopathy. Outcomes measured included retear rate, reoperation rate, subsequent surgeries, concomitant procedures and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs).
Xiao and colleagues found no significant differences in retear rate between patients with vs. those without tendinopathy. There were also no significant differences in the rate of subsequent surgeries or PROMs between the two groups.
However, Xiao said patients who underwent concomitant medial meniscus repair had an increased risk for subsequent surgeries. In addition, patients who had subsequent knee surgeries had significantly worse PROMs vs. those who did not have a subsequent surgery.
Xiao said that a prospective study on the topic would be beneficial.
“When we were doing this study, we realized a good number of patients did have a mild tendinopathy signal on their preoperative MRIs and they did not have any clinical signs of tendinopathy,” Xiao said. “So, the overall prevalence of tendinopathy in active individuals is a good study question, as well, that we are working on.”
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Xiao M, et al. Paper 212. Presented at: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting; March 10-14, 2025; San Diego.