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Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery - British Volume, Vol 88-B, Issue 4, 477-483.
doi: 10.1302/0301-620X.88B4.17186  
Copyright © 2006 by British Editorial Society of Bone and Joint Surgery
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Decrease in anterior knee laxity by electrical stimulation of normal and reconstructed anterior cruciate ligaments

J. Iwasa, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor1; M. Ochi, MD, PhD, Professor and Chairman2; Y. Uchio, MD, PhD, Professor and Chairman1; N. Adachi, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor2; and K. Kawasaki, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor1

1 Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Shimane University School of Medicine, 89-1 Enya, Izumo, Shimane 693-8501, Japan.
2 Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Programs for Applied Biomedicine, Division of Clinical Medical Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima 734-8551, Japan.

Correspondence should be sent to Dr J. Iwasa; e-mail: j-iwasa{at}med.shimane-u.ac.jp

We have investigated the changes in anterior laxity of the knee in response to direct electrical stimulation of eight normal and 45 reconstructed anterior cruciate ligaments (ACLs). In the latter, the mean time from reconstruction was 26.7 months (24 to 32). The ACL was stimulated electrically using a bipolar electrode probe during arthroscopy. Anterior laxity was examined with the knee flexed at 20° under a force of 134 N applied anteriorly to the tibia using the KT-2000 knee arthrometer before, during and after electrical stimulation.

Anterior tibial translation in eight normal and 17 ACL-reconstructed knees was significantly decreased during stimulation, compared with that before stimulation. In 28 knees with reconstruction of the ACL, in 22 of which the grafts were found to have detectable somatosensory evoked potentials during stimulation, anterior tibial translation was not decreased. These findings suggest that the ACL-hamstring reflex arc in normal knees may contribute to the functional stability and that this may not be fully restored after some reconstructions of the ACL.






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Hip, Knee, Trauma, Upper limb, Foot & Ankle, Paediatrics, Oncology, Spine, Arthroplasty, General