A bioabsorbable plug in bone-tendon-bone reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament:: Introduction of a novel fixation technique

Purpose: Our aim was to compare the fixation strength of a novel plugging technique with that of the conventional interference technique in bone-patellar tendon-bone reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament. Type of Study: Randomized experimental study. Methods: Twenty matched pairs of porcine knees were randomly assigned to 2 groups. The bone block of the graft was secured in the femoral drill hole with either the new bioabsorbable poly-L-lactide/D-lactide (PLA 96.4) copolymer plug (plugging technique) (n = 20) or a conventional interference screw (interference technique) (n = 20). Ten pairs were subjected to a single cycle loading test at a rate of 50 mm/min while the remaining 10 pairs underwent a cyclic loading test to further assess the quality of the fixation. The cyclic loading test consisted of 1,500 loading cycles between 50 and 200 N at half-hertz frequency, after which the specimens were loaded to failure at a rate of 50 mm/min. Results: In the single cycle loading test, the average ultimate failure load was 1,061 +/- 342 N in the plugging technique group and 971 +/- 260 N in the interference technique group (P = .57). Significant group differences were found neither in the yield loads nor observed between the 2 fixation techniques. There were neither significant group differences with regard to the ultimate failure load (plugging technique 994 +/- 376 N versus interference technique 1,001 +/- 343 N, P = .97) nor yield load of the fixations in the subsequent single cycle loading. Conclusions: the results of this study indicate that, in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, the new plugging technique is a reasonable alternative for fixation of the femoral site of a bone-patellar tendon-bone graft.