Comparison of Results of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction via Two-stranded and Four-stranded Hamstring Autografts

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of the key ligaments that help stabilize the knee joint. Considering the high rate of ACL ruptures, especially in athletes, reconstruction of this ligament is of paramount importance. The present study aimed to compare the level of function improvement and satisfaction of patients with ACL reconstruction by two-stranded and four-stranded hamstring autografts (HAs) with the diameter above six millimeters. In total, 60 patients with ACL ruptures, who referred to healthcare centers in a four-year period (2013-2017) and underwent arthroscopic ACL reconstruction via two-stranded and four-stranded HAs, were called to the clinic to assess their satisfaction with the surgery, time to return to unrestricted sports and work activities, the number of postoperative physiotherapy sessions, postoperative complications, range of motion of the injured knee after the surgery, and Lysholm score. Moreover, data analysis was performed using independent sample t-test. In this study, both groups were homogenous in terms of the evaluated parameters. In addition, the four-stranded and two-stranded HA groups had excellent and good grades, respectively, and their mean Lysholm scores were 91.05 and 88.98, respectively. While significantly different lysholm scores were obtained by the groups, no significant difference was observed between the research groups with regard to a slight numerical difference between the two means (P=0.585). According to the results of the study, no significant difference was observed in the functional and clinical outcomes of the participants, thereby confirming the equal effectiveness of the two-stranded and four-stranded HAs in arthroscopic ACL reconstruction. It seems that both surgery methods, provided that the graft diameter is equal to or above six millimeters, will have a similar success rate with close acceptable results.