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DOI: 10.1055/s-0039-1685462
Comments on the Article ‘Radiological Evaluation of the Femoral Tunnel Positioning in Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction’
Article in several languages: português | EnglishDear Editor,
The debate on the ideal positioning of femoral tunnels is an important topic of research in recent times. In this regard, the article by Peres et al is very important, because it evaluates and compares the inclination angles and femoral tunnel lengths between two commonly used techniques of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction.[1] We found that they have made a very good comparison between the transtibial and the transportal techniques. They have used the coronal plane inclination angle and the femoral tunnel length as variables for comparison between the two techniques.
In this study, the authors have compared the femoral tunnel lengths in the coronal plane using a computed tomography (CT) based evaluation. This method of estimation of femoral length has serious flaws, as they are measuring the length in the coronal plane, while the tunnel is drilled at an angle starting posteriorly and ending anteriorly. This has been explained by providing examples from cases performed in our institute.
[Fig. 1] shows two coronal images of the same patient, in whom the femoral tunnel has been drilled using transportal technique. The CT scan was performed 1 week after the surgery. The coronal cuts are taken at different depths from the anterior femoral articular surface. As can be clearly seen, there can be a significant difference in the measurement of femoral tunnel lengths at different positions from the anterior surface. The reason for this difference is that the tunnel is not drilled parallel to the coronal axis. Rather, it is drilled at an anteroposterior angle, with the entry point being more posterior than the exit point.
![](https://www.thieme-connect.de/media/10.1055-s-00042410/202101/thumbnails/10-1055-s-0039-1685462-i1900009en-1.jpg)
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We recommend that the femoral tunnel length can be best measured in axial plane CT scans using curved reformats, as shown in [Fig. 2]. Curved reformatting allows us to visualize the entire tunnel in its length and provides accurate length. A similar method of calculating the femoral tunnel length has been used by Sim et al in their article comparing two techniques of femoral tunnel preparation.[2]
![](https://www.thieme-connect.de/media/10.1055-s-00042410/202101/thumbnails/10-1055-s-0039-1685462-i1900009en-2.jpg)
![Zoom Image](/products/assets/desktop/css/img/icon-figure-zoom.png)
Excluding this error, we find that the article provides valuable information about the femoral tunnel placement in both techniques.
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Conflitos de Interesses
Os autores não têm conflitos de interesses a declarar.
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References
- 1 Peres LR, Teixeira MS, Scalizi Júnior C, Akl Filho W. Radiological evaluation of the femoral tunnel positioning in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Rev Bras Ortop 2018; 53 (04) 397-403
- 2 Sim JA, Kim JM, Lee S, Song EK, Seon JK. No difference in graft healing or clinical outcome between trans-portal and outside-in techniques after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 2018; 26 (08) 2338-2344
Address for correspondence
Publication History
Received: 12 January 2019
Accepted: 19 February 2019
Article published online:
01 April 2019
© 2019. Sociedade Brasileira de Ortopedia e Traumatologia. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commecial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
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References
- 1 Peres LR, Teixeira MS, Scalizi Júnior C, Akl Filho W. Radiological evaluation of the femoral tunnel positioning in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Rev Bras Ortop 2018; 53 (04) 397-403
- 2 Sim JA, Kim JM, Lee S, Song EK, Seon JK. No difference in graft healing or clinical outcome between trans-portal and outside-in techniques after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc 2018; 26 (08) 2338-2344
![](https://www.thieme-connect.de/media/10.1055-s-00042410/202101/thumbnails/10-1055-s-0039-1685462-i1900009pt-1.jpg)
![Zoom Image](/products/assets/desktop/css/img/icon-figure-zoom.png)
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![Zoom Image](/products/assets/desktop/css/img/icon-figure-zoom.png)
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![Zoom Image](/products/assets/desktop/css/img/icon-figure-zoom.png)
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![Zoom Image](/products/assets/desktop/css/img/icon-figure-zoom.png)