New Research Shows Cadaver Tissue Fails Nearly a Quarter of the Time in Young, Athletic ACL Reconstructio...(en direction change. To repair a torn AC...),Health

In the study, 64 patients, 40 years old or younger with high activity levels who had ACL reconstruction with a cadaver replacement ligament, were followed for a minimum of two years. ACL reconstruction failure was defined as requiring a second reconstruction due to injury or graft failure or poor scores on a combination of orthopaedic outcome measure tests. The study found that 15 (23.4 percent) of the 64 patients’ ACL reconstructions failed as defined by the study.

“This failure rate in this young, active population is exceedingly high when compared to a previous study that looked at failure rates of cadaver replacement ligament in patients older than 40,” said corresponding author Dr. Gene Barrett. “The older group’s failure rate was 2.4 percent. So while there are obvious benefits of using the cadaver ligament, like avoiding a second surgical site on the patient, a quicker return to work and less postoperative pain, for a young patient who is very active, it may not be the right choice.”

The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) is a world leader in sports medicine education, research, communication and fellowship, and includes national and international orthopaedic sports medicine leaders. The Society works closely with many other sports medicine specialists, including athletic trainers, physical therapists, family physicians, and others to improve the identification, prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of sports injuries.

For more information, please contact AOSSM Director of Communications Lisa Weisenberger at 847/292-4900, or e-mail her at lisa @ sportsmed.org. You can also visit the AOSSM Web site at