Pes anserinus transfer for the unstable knee. A 7-year follow-up of 43 cases of ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.

On average 7 years postoperatively, we evaluated 43 consecutive patients who had had pesoplasty for chronic injury of the anterior cruciate ligament. Fourteen patients had undergone further surgery during the follow-up period; ten of these had extra- or intra-articular stabilizing procedures, and eight meniscectomies were performed after the index operation. At follow-up of the 33 knees that had not had additional stabilizing surgery, only one-third of the knees had normal radiograms, and the majority had anterolateral rotational instability (pivot shift) which, however, did not exclude satisfactory knee function. We conclude that improvement after transfer of the pes anserinus tendons was due to the simultaneous meniscectomy; we do not believe that the pesoplasty changed the natural course of the chronic rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament.