Clinical Outcome of Posterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction With and Without Remnant Preservation

Editorial Commentary: Could Time From Injury to Surgery Affect Decision Making for Posterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction?

“…Waiting too long may affect graft maturation. The advances in arthroscopic techniques for PCL reconstruction over the past few years have resulted in reliable clinical outcomes with reasonably low complication rates, [2][3][4][5][6] supporting the decision to consider early surgical intervention for high-activity patients with high-grade PCL tears. Regarding remnant preservation, 2 schools of thought have evolved analogous to anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.…”

“…In a recent systematic review, remnant preservation in PCL reconstruction was considered important for International Knee Documentation Committee subjective knee and Lysholm scores and side-to-side differences in stability assessment. 6 Opponents of remnant preservation highlight the importance of adequate visualization for proper tunnel placement. Once again, anatomic placement of the tibial tunnel in PCL reconstruction appears critical for successful outcome for PCL reconstructions.…”

“…[7][8][9] According to the findings of this and other studies, remnants can be important for graft maturation and signal intensity. 1,6 The imaging assessment scores used for graft evaluation can provide some insight for graft maturation over time; however, it is unclear whether these data (about graft signal intensity and maturation) can be directly correlated to graft mechanical strength and clinical outcome. Further research should focus on improvement in imaging techniques to develop an effective imaging tool that correlates graft characteristics and maturity with clinical decision making for return to sports.…”

Arthroscopic Posterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction With Remnant Preservation Using a Posterior Trans-septal Portal

“… 2 , 3 , 7 If the remnant PCL fibers are well preserved, this could contribute to knee stability, restoration of proprioception by saving mechanoreceptors, and prevention of the killer-turn effect. 2 , 3 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 …”

Editorial Commentary: Posterior Cruciate Ligament Remnant Preservation Has Hypothetical Advantages

“…G. Song, Kim, Han, Bhandare, Shetty, Kang, Y. W. Song, and Nha, from Korea and India, report on "Clinical outcome of posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with and without remnant preservation." 1 Their hypothesis was that remnant-preserving posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) reconstruction would result in improved surgical outcomes. A disappointment is that after systematically applying article inclusion and exclusion criteria, there were no studies directly comparing PCL reconstruction with or without remnant preservation, and thus speaking plainly, the available literature does not address the study purpose.…”