New thesis on anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction
Riccardo Cristiani at the research group Sports Medicine, Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, will defend his thesis "Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction : subjective knee function, graft failure and revision surgery" on December 17, 2021. Main Supervisor is Anders Stålman.
What's the main focus of your thesis?
The main focus of my thesis was to identify factors affecting objective and subjective outcomes after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). Another aim was to evaluate and compare subjective and objective outcomes of revision (reoperation) ACLR and contralateral ACLR with those of primary ACLR.
The thesis is based on registry data on several thousands of patients who underwent ACLR at the Capio Artro Clinic/Stockholm Sports Trauma Research Center.
Which are the most important results?
The studies in my thesis have shown that:
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Knee laxity (objective outcome) after ACLR is affected by age at surgery, the choice of the tendon used to reconstruct the ACL, the status of the medial meniscus, the laxity before surgery and the time from injury to surgery.
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Delay in ACLR increases the risk of associated (meniscus and cartilage) injuries and reduces the opportunity to repair an injury to the medial meniscus.
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Age, gender, quadriceps strength and hop performance 6 months after ACLR are associated with the subjective outcome 2 years after ACLR.
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Contralateral ACLR produces equivalent results compared with primary ACLR, but revision ACLR results in an inferior subjective knee outcome compared with primary ACLR.
How can this new knowledge contribute to the improvement of people’s health?
With the knowledge acquired from the studies included in this thesis, it is possible to improve the objective and subjective outcome after primary ACLR and to carefully counsel patients about the expected outcome after revision and contralateral ACLR.
What are your future ambitions?
I hope to keep my curiosity high, continue with my research on ACL injuries and improve as much as I can as a knee surgeon.
Dissertation
Thesis