[Genucom knee analysis after introduction of Dacron prostheses in knees with isolated rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament. 44 consecutive cases].

During the period 1. December 1984 to 30. November 1986, reconstructive operations were performed on 44 patients with isolated unilateral rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament. The patients suffered from chronic insufficiency of the knee with episodes of dislocation. The anterior cruciate ligament was reconstructed with a synthetic Dacron prosthesis and the postoperative stability of the knee was registered by means of a Genucom knee analysis system and manual tests for stability. Reconstruction involved an increase in the average Lysholm score from 63 preoperatively to 91 postoperatively. The activity of the patients, as measured by Tegner scoring, improved in 30 cases but only 14 patients stated that they had achieved the same level of activity as before rupture of the cruciate ligament. Sixteen out of the 44 patient patients, according to the Genucom analysis, obtained an antero-posterior stability which corresponded to that in the healthy knee. No correlation was found between possible objective stability measured by Genucom and the patients Lysholm scoring. 20% (9/44) of the patients sustained rupture of the Dacron prosthesis after an average of 11 months. The present authors consider that the quality of the prosthetic material should, therefore, be improved.