Femoral positioning influences ipsi-and contralateral anterior cruciate ligament rupture following its reconstruction: Systematic review and meta-analysis

AIM: To systematically review the incidence of ipsilateral graft re-rupture and contralateral anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture following its reconstruction, with special attention to the femoral drilling technique. METHODS: Systematic review and meta-analysis of high-level prospective studies searched in MEDLINE database following PRISMA statement. The rate of ipsilateral graft re-rupture and contralateral rupture in patients submitted to either transtibial (TT) technique (isometric) or anteromedial (AM) technique (anatomic) was compared. RESULTS: Eleven studies met the criteria and were included in final analysis. Reconstructions using the AM technique had a similar chance of contralateral ACL rupture when compared to the chance of ipsilateral graft failure (OR = 1.08, P = 0.746). In reconstructions using TT technique, the chance of contralateral ACL rupture was approximately 1.5 times higher than ipsilateral graft failure (OR = 1.49, P = 0.048). Incidence of contralateral lesions were similar among the techniques TT (7.4%) and AM (7.0%) (P = 0.963), but a trend could be noticed with a lower incidence of lesion in the ipsilateral limb when using the TT technique (4.9%) compared to the AM technique (6.5%) (P = 0.081). CONCLUSION: ACL reconstruction by TT technique leads to lower incidence of graft re-injury than contralateral ACL lesion. There is no difference between the chance of re-injury after AM technique and the chance of contralateral ACL lesion (native ligament) with either technique.