The Incidence of Injuries to Ramp Semimembranosus Complex Lesions After ACL Injury: An MRI Study.

BACKGROUND

Medial meniscal ramp lesions have recently been an area of interest because of their recognized prevalence in association with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ruptures. Anatomically, the medial meniscal ramp is composed of the meniscocapsular ligament in continuity with the semimembranosus muscle and the meniscotibial ligament. Diagnosis of ramp semimembranosus complex (RSC) injuries remains challenging, and their prevalence is likely to be underestimated in comparison with ramp lesions.

PURPOSE

To determine the prevalence of RSC lesions after a complete ACL rupture.

STUDY DESIGN

Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3.

METHODS

A retrospective database analysis was performed. The cohort consisted of the first 100 patients with complete ACL rupture confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) who underwent knee arthroscopy for ACL reconstruction in 2019. The semimembranosus lesions were identified using MRI by 2 independent radiologists specializing in musculoskeletal imaging. The ramp lesions were initially diagnosed using MRI and then confirmed during arthroscopy by an experienced knee surgeon. The magnitude of rotatory instability was recorded using the pivot-shift test. A multivariate analysis was used to determine the lesions associated with the semimembranosus complex.

RESULTS

Of 100 patients, 53 showed lesions of the RSC; among them, 30 ramp lesions were confirmed after arthroscopic evaluation, and 40 semimembranosus lesions (23 without ramp lesion and 17 with ramp lesion) were found using MRI. A positive pivot shift was present in 57% of patients with combined RSC injury ( = .04) compared with 36% in patients without an RSC lesion.

CONCLUSION

Lesions of the RSC were found in more than half of ACL ruptures in this retrospective cohort. Rotational instability could be associated with combined ACL and RSC injury.